Van Allen radiation belt
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The Van Allen radiation belt is a zone of energetic charged particles, most of which originate from solar wind, that are captured and held around a planet by that planet's magnetosphere. Earth has two
Jupiter's variable radiation belts
Cutaway drawing of two radiation belts around Earth: the inner belt (red) dominated by protons and the outer one (blue) by electrons. Image Credit: NASA
Laboratory simulation of the Van Allen belt's influence on the Solar Wind; these aurora-like Birkeland currents were created by the scientist Kristian Birkeland in his terrella, a magnetized anode globe in an evacuated chamber
South Atlantic Anomaly
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The South Atlantic Anomaly is an area where Earth's inner Van Allen radiation belt comes closest to Earth's surface, dipping down to an altitude of 200 kilometres. This leads to an increased flux of e
Van Allen radiation belt
…or 1,000 km (620 mi) to 12,000 km (7,500 mi) above the Earth. In certain cases, when solar activity is stronger or in geographical areas such as the South Atlantic Anomaly, the inner boundary may decline to roughly 200 km above the Earth's surface. The inner belt contains high concentrations of electrons in the range of…
Magnetic field intensity at Earth's surface in 2014 (top) and 2025 (bottom), as measured by ESA's SWARM spacecraft. The SAA has strengthened and expanded since 2014.