Date: 06 Dec 2007
Satellite: Cluster
Depicts: Earth's magnetic environment
Copyright: ESA (adopted from picture courtesy C. Russel)

Illustration of Earth's magnetic environment, with key regions indicated.

On the night side of the Earth (to the right in this image), the plasma sheet boundary layer separates the plasma sheet region, located around the magnetic equator, from the northern tail lobe, a region almost empty of plasma.