The broad elongated extension of the earth's magnetosphere on the side away from the sun.
〔天文〕磁尾，磁层尾
Example sentencesExamples
The magnetotail is the part of the magnetosphere pushed in the direction of the solar wind - shaped like a giant windsock and stretching at least two million kilometres into space on the night side of the Earth.
"Earth's magnetotail extends well beyond the orbit of the moon and, once a month, the moon orbits through it," says Tim Stubbs, a University of Maryland scientist working at the Goddard Space Flight Center.
The moon enters the magnetotail three days before it is full and takes about six days to cross and exit on the other side.
In June 2001 Cluster began to explore the magnetotail - the region where storms of high energy particles are generated.
The orbit has to have some inclination to it for the apoapsis to get into the magnetotail.
Definition of magnetotail in US English:
magnetotail
nounmaɡˈnēdəˌtāl
Astronomy
The broad elongated extension of a planet's magnetosphere on the side away from the sun.
〔天文〕磁尾，磁层尾
Example sentencesExamples
The moon enters the magnetotail three days before it is full and takes about six days to cross and exit on the other side.
"Earth's magnetotail extends well beyond the orbit of the moon and, once a month, the moon orbits through it," says Tim Stubbs, a University of Maryland scientist working at the Goddard Space Flight Center.
In June 2001 Cluster began to explore the magnetotail - the region where storms of high energy particles are generated.
The magnetotail is the part of the magnetosphere pushed in the direction of the solar wind - shaped like a giant windsock and stretching at least two million kilometres into space on the night side of the Earth.
The orbit has to have some inclination to it for the apoapsis to get into the magnetotail.