Table 1.
Locations in the magnetospheric system
| Location | Importance |
|---|---|
| Bow shock | Processes cool solar wind into hot magnetosheath |
| Magnetopause | Outer boundary of magnetosphere |
| Site of dayside reconnection | |
| A location of plasma entry into magnetosphere | |
| Dipolar region | Traps plasma and energetic charged particles |
| Magnetotail | Reservoir of magnetic flux and energy |
| Globally unstable at times: energy for substorms | |
| Ionosphere and thermosphere | A source of plasma for magnetosphere |
| An absorber of magnetospheric charged particles | |
| Cusps | A location of plasma entry into magnetosphere |
| Auroral zone | A region of energy transfer from the magnetosphere to the ionosphere |
| Geosynchronous orbit | Populated with spacecraft, r = 6.6 RE |
| Lunar orbit | Orbit of the moon, r = 60 RE |
| L1 Lagrangian point | Location of upstream solar-wind monitors, 235 RE toward the Sun |