Earth's magnetosphere, illustration - stock illustration

Illustration showing the interaction of the solar wind (red) with Earth's magnetic field (blue, not to scale). The solar wind is made up of charged particles emitted by the Sun. The Earth's magnetic field deflects these particles, forming a wake-like pattern of field lines that is compressed on the sunward side and trails over a million kilometres away from the Sun on the other side of the Earth, and is known as the magnetotail.