This magnetic field is aligned with the north and south poles, and has reversed many times during geologic history. The Earth's magnetic field is about 0.32 Gauss at the equator and about 0.62 Gauss at the poles. William Gilbert hypothesized that the Earth was a giant magnet in 1600. The magnetopause is the boundary between the area in which the Earth's magnetic field dominates and the magnetic field of the rest of the Solar System dominates. Charged particles become trapped on the field lines of the magnetosphere.
Auroras appear when trapped particles from the solar wind spiral towards a pole.
These beautiful arcs of lights in the near-polar sky are caused by gases that become excited after being hit by solar particles. As stated in our privacy policy , we fully respect your privacy and will not use your e-mail address for any purpose other than the newsletter subscription.