Daily Image
01-09-2010
Tracing Energetic Particles in a Magnetosphere
| Submitter: | Trevor Sloughter |
| Description: | Working as an intern for the summer, I used the Geant4 particle physics package and the PlanetoCosmics software to model planetary magnetic fields and simulate cosmic ray interactions within them. The image here shows a dipolar planetary field, with is superimposed with a homogenous external magnetic field that represents the field carried by the stellar wind. In this case, the field lines of the planet and the stellar wind are oppositely aligned, causing reconnection to occur and creating an open magnetosphere. The red lines are the magnetic field lines, and the green represents the trajectory of a proton with a rigidity of 16 GV, coming in from outside the magnetosphere, being curved by the magnetic field and reaching the planet's atmosphere. Some particles with less energy would be deflected entirely, and would not reach the planet. The minimum rigidity/energy with which a particle reaches the planet is called the "cutoff rigidity". |
| Copyright: | Creative Commons: Trevor Sloughter |
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