This picture labels some of the things the satellites tell us about the magnetosphere... When the solar wind comes to the earth, it meets the earth's magnet and most of the tiny particles are pushed around the earth because of this magnet. They begin their journey around in a curve called the "Bow Shock". Just like water makes a curved wave in front of a boat, the solar wind makes a curve in front of the earth. The particles then follow a path that goes around the earth in a sort of cover or sheath. This curve is called the "magnetosheath". Just as a knife has a sheath to protect it, the earth has a sheath to protect it from the solar wind.

Not all the solar wind particles go around the earth by way of the magnetosheath. Some get through the bow shock and get caught between the earth and the bow shock. These particles mix with other particles that come up from the earth's ionosphere to fill the magnetosphere. They are pushed sideways so they are close to the North or South Pole. There they glow and cause the strange sounds on radio and in electronic equipment. They do this when they get closer to the North and South Poles of the earth.

Some of the tiny pieces of matter in the earth's magnetosphere don't come from the sun in the solar wind. Some come from the earth. Our planet can get some air particles into space and these particles can act just like solar wind when they get there. The particles from these two sources together cause the aurora and the strange sounds on the radio and telephone. These particles are similar to the solar wind. They have charge just as you have charge when you get static electricity in your clothes on a cold day. These particles are called "plasma" because they act a certain way. They cause strange sounds on radios and telephones and produce the light of auroras.