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What is the magnetosheath and why is it turbulent?
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Ionosphere and magnetosphere
The layers of Earth's atmosphere, with a yellow line showing the air temperature at various heights.
The magnetosheath is a region located between 10 and 13 Earth radii toward the Sun, situated between the bow shock and the magnetopause, which marks the outer boundary of the magnetosphere.12
This region is characterized by magnetic turbulence, where both the magnitude and the direction of the Earth’s magnetic field vary erratically. This turbulence is believed to be caused by the production of magnetohydrodynamic shock waves, which are generated by high-velocity solar wind particles interacting with the magnetosphere.12