Privileged Planet: particle protection (Introduction)

by David Turell , Thursday, February 16, 2017, 21:22 (2625 days ago) @ David Turell

This a dangerous universe with high energy particles that can damage life. The Earth has van Allen belts of radiation that protect us:

http://www.space.com/27979-van-allen-belts-barrier-particles.html

"The pair of radiation belts surrounding Earth stop high-energy particles in their tracks, a new study reveals.

"Data gathered by NASA’s twin Van Allen Probes, which launched in August 2012, show that the donut-shaped Van Allen belts present a nearly impenetrable barrier to high-energy electrons, keeping them from hitting Earth.

"'The barrier for the ultrafast electrons is a remarkable feature of the belts," study lead author Dan Baker, of the University of Colorado in Boulder, said in a statement.

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"the Van Allen belts are two collections of charged particles that circle Earth, held in place by the planet’s magnetic field.

"Charged particles streaming from the sun cause the belts to grow and shrink, sometimes merging and occasionally forming three belts instead of two. On average, the inner belt reaches from 400 to 6,000 miles (640 to 9,700 kilometers) above Earth’s surface, while the outer belt spans 8,400 to 36,000 miles (13,500 to 58,000 km) above the planet.

"The new information gathered by the Van Allen Probes reveals that the inner edge of the outer belt is very sharply defined. Under normal circumstances, the fastest, highest-energy electrons cannot cross over the boundary, researchers said.

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"The scientists searched for possible sources of the newfound wall. They ruled out human-generated transmissions and the shape of Earth’s magnetic field, determining that the most likely cause came from the interaction of the belts with other particles in space.

"Earth’s outer atmosphere contains a cloud of relatively cool, charged particles known as the plasmasphere. These particles extend from about 600 miles (1,000 km) above the planet's surface partway into the outer Van Allen belt. Particles from the outer boundary of the plasmasphere cause particles in the outer belt to scatter, ejecting them from the belt completely, researchers said

"the charged particles of the Van Allen belts travel at high speeds in a loop around the planet; their direction toward Earth comes as a slow, gentle drift over the course of months. Because their Earthward movement is so slow and weak, the plasmasphere is able to scatter the particles, keeping them away from the planet"

Comment: We are very protected in a dangerous universe. God at work?