How did a third radiation belt appear in the Earth's upper atmosphere?
Thursday, June 20, 2013 - 13:00
in Astronomy & Space
(Phys.org) —Since the discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts in in the Earth's upper atmosphere in 1958, space scientists have believed that these belts consisted of two doughnut-shaped rings of highly charged particles—an inner ring of high-energy electrons and energetic positive ions, and an outer ring of high-energy electrons.