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3D Animation of Earth and Space Science Concepts
3D Structure of the Earth's Magnetosphere, a CME Impact, and the Resulting
Aurora Intensification
Shown below is an animation illustrating the basic 3D structure
of the earth's magnetosphere and a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) impacting the earth's
magnetosphere. Moving at roughly one million miles per hour, a CME would take between
thirty minutes and one hour to move through the earth's magnetosphere. As the
magnetosphere rebounds from the impact, energy is dumped into the earth's polar regions
causing a temporary increase in electromagnetic radiation and aurora activity.
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| A 36 second, 1.4 MB QuickTime movie
that shows a 3D representation of the earth's magnetic field at 60 degrees, 75 degrees,
and 85 degrees magnetic latitude. A CME impact on the magnetosphere is also
illustrated. The sun is offscreen to the left. The CME impact depicted here
would take between thirty minutes and one hour to occur. After the CME impact, the
magnetosphere rebounds and dumps energy into the polar regions of the earth starting from
the nighttime side and extending around to the daytime side. |
The dynamic 3D magnetic field shapes were generated by custom Digital Radiance
software that processed magnetic field-line simulation data files provided by NASA
researchers Jim Spann, Dennis Gallagher, and Heather Elliott. The earth's surface, the
clouds, and the stars in the animation are scientifically accurate data. The earth's
surface data is derived from data from the AVHRR satellite, the clouds are derived from
the GOES satellite's visible light channels, and the 1 million+ stars are derived from the
Tycho star catalog.
Click to see other 3D animations we've developed for the NASA
Marshall Spaceflight Center's Science Directorate.
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