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MAGNETOSPHERE

Magnetosphere allows you to collect data to answer the question, "Has there been a measurable disturbance in the Earth’s magnetic field?"

Throughout the Magnetosphere section the terms storm, geomagnetic storm or magnetic storm will be used to indicate a disturbance in Earth’s magnetic field. Scientists actually use two terms – storm and substorm – to describe magnetic disturbances. Storms are generally long term events that last from a few hours to a few days. Substorms usually only last a half hour or so. Storms are often made up of many substorms, although substorms can occur individually. In this section the word ‘storm’ will be used to include both storm and substorm type disturbances.

While participating in the Magnetosphere you may think of other questions that you wish to investigate. For instance, what is the magnetosphere? Can you see it? Does it have a shape? How big is it? Is it part of our atmosphere? Does space weather have an effect on it?

From Students:

Learn how to construct and collect data from an inexpensive yet highly sensitive soda bottle magnetometer that measures changes in the Earth's magnetic field.

From Observatories:

Ground-based professional observatories in North America and Europe provide near real time measurements of Earth's magnetic field. Find out how to get and interpret these data to determine whether a solar storm is passing.

From Satellites:

NASA satellites monitor space weather conditions around Earth. These satellites supply scientific data to study Earth's magnetosphere and warn scientists of space storms.
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