This image may not be used to state or imply ESA endorsement of any company or product Kelvin-Helmholtz vortices in the Earth's magnetosphere, compute
This image may not be used to state or imply ESA endorsement of any company or product Kelvin-Helmholtz vortices in the Earth's magnetosphere, computer model. 3D cut-away view of Earth's magnetosphere, showing the interaction of the solar wind with Earth's magnetic field. The curly features on the boundary layer are the so-called 'Kelvin-Helmholtz' vortices discovered by Cluster II satellites. The vortices originate where two adjacent flows of electrically charged gas (plasma) travel with different speeds. In this case, one of the flows is the heated gas inside the magnetosphere, the other one is the solar wind (a stream of charged particles emitted by the Sun) just outside it. The white dashed arrow shows the trajectory followed by Cluster when the vortices where discovered in 2004.
Size: 6776px × 5572px
Photo credit: © ESA/Hasegawa et al/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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