Summary
The magnetic-field particle layer is an educational schematic, not a replacement for a full magnetic-field model trace. It uses dipole L-shell geometry as a base, then applies a scene-scaled inner magnetosphere distortion to show dayside compression and nightside tail stretch.
Key Facts
- NOAA SWPC describes Earth's magnetosphere as the region around Earth controlled by its magnetic field and shaped by the solar wind.
- NOAA SWPC identifies the sun-facing boundary as the magnetopause and the anti-sunward extension as the magnetotail.
- NASA SSCWeb defines GSM as an Earth-centered coordinate frame with X from Earth to Sun.
- NASA CCMC model pages describe Tsyganenko magnetic-field models as empirical magnetospheric field models with explicit model inputs.
- Dipole L-shell field lines use the relation `r = L cos^2(lambda)` as the base shape before the schematic solar-wind distortion.
Applied in the Build
The particle layer shows dayside compression, nightside tail stretch, cross-tail spread, and north/south structure as qualitative magnetosphere properties. Kp and Dst can drive disturbance and stretch in the schematic, but the UI must not imply the rendered particles are full Tsyganenko field-line traces.
The exhibit copy therefore says that the moving particles are a schematic dipole-tail field conditioned by the displayed MMS context.
Caveat
This visualization is not a full Tsyganenko field-line trace. It is a scene-scaled inner magnetosphere field schematic designed to teach orientation, compression, tail stretch, and activity response alongside the real MMS4 ephemeris and context data.
Citation
Primary source: https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/phenomena/earths-magnetosphere
Supporting sources: NASA SSCWeb coordinate guide, NASA CCMC model pages.
Build note: `mms4/research/magnetosphere-field-representation.md`