Van Allen Probes Orbit Among Earth's Radiation Belts
Illustration of Earth, the radiation belts and NASA’s twin Van Allen Probes.
Two swaths of particles surrounding Earth called the radiation belts are one of the greatest natural accelerators in the solar system, able to push particles up to 99% the speed of light. The Van Allen Probes launched in August 2012, have now discovered mechanisms behind this acceleration. Image Credit: NASA/Goddard /Scientific Visualization Studio
View associated news item at https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/van-allen-probes-find-source-of-fast…
