Earth's Magnetosphere Electric Charges Found to Be Flipped Near Equator

Imagine Earth has a big magnetic shield around it, called the magnetosphere.

Scientists used to think that the side of this shield facing the sun (morning side) was like a plus (+) charge and the side away from the sun (evening side) was like a minus (-) charge.

But new studies using satellites and computer models found something surprising!

Near the middle of the Earth, called the equator, it's actually the other way around: the morning side is a minus (-) charge and the evening side is a plus (+).

However, at the very top and bottom of the Earth, near the poles, the charges are still like scientists thought.

This difference happens because of how tiny charged particles, called plasma, move around and how Earth's magnetic field lines are shaped.