NASA researchers track slowly splitting ‘dent’ in Earth’s magnetic field – Phys.org

A small but evolving dent in Earth’s magnetic field can cause big headaches for satellites.
Earth’s magnetic field acts like a protective shield around the planet, repelling and trapping charged particles from the Sun. But over South America and the southern Atlantic Ocean, an unusually weak spot in the fieldcalled the South Atlantic Anomaly, or SAAallows these particles to dip closer to the surface than normal. Particle radiation in this region can knock out onboard computers and interfere wit…

Click here to view the original article.