In the magnetosphere, the plasma sheet is a sheet-like region of denser (0.3-0.5 ions/cm³ versus 0.01-0.02 in the lobes) hot plasma and lower magnetic field near the

equatorial plane The celestial equator is the great circle of the imaginary celestial sphere on the same plane as the equator of Earth. This plane of reference bases the equatorial coordinate system. In other words, the celestial equator is an abstract projecti ...

, between the magnetosphere's north and south lobes. A magnetosphere is produced by the interaction of a stream of charged particles, such as

solar wind The solar wind is a stream of charged particles released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun, called the corona. This plasma mostly consists of electrons, protons and alpha particles with kinetic energy between . The composition of the sol ...

, with the magnetic field of a planet (or similar body). All planets with intrinsic magnetic fields, including Earth, are surrounded by a magnetosphere.

References

Geomagnetism Planetary science Space plasmas {{astrophysics-stub