Earth's Magnetic Field and Solar Sneezes

A spell back, I posted about how life predated science fiction because Earth has something akin to planet-sized deflector shields. These are the Van Allen radiation belts, which were previously unknown until the Explorer satellite series helped find them. Later, the cosmic evolution-defying deflector properties were discovered.

On January 31, 1958, Explorer 1 brought the US into the space age.
Image credit: NASA (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents)

When you sneeze, you're ejecting...stuff. The sun sends the occasional blast of stuff our way, which has been likened to a solar sneeze. 'Snot funny, That plasma and radiation could cause us problems. The following link leads to an article by Dr. Henry Richter, who was involved in the Explorer series and the detection of the Van Allen belts. It's good for a space exploration history lesson, and a reminder that our Creator set things up for our protection, even way out yonder.

A recent article about an attribute of the Van Allen Belts and how they operate strikes me as another prime example of how the Earth and its environment are designed to allow and protect life. Every now and then, the sun sends a large coronal mass ejection (CME) toward the Earth. This is a lot of dangerously destructive plasma which is a hazard to life and to electronic devices and systems. If the CME reached an unprotected Earth, it would cause widespread damage. The article on Phys.org, “Sun eruptions hit Earth like a Sneeze‘, say scientists,” describes what would happen without protection by our magnetic field.

To read the rest, click on "Earth’s Magnetic Field Protects Us from Solar Sneezes". Bless you, sun. 




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