Earth's magnetosphere- an artist's impression

This artist’s impression shows a sketch of Earth's magnetosphere (in blue), embedded in the flow of the solar wind.

Due to the interaction of permanently incoming solar wind (coming from the left of the figure) with Earth's magnetosphere, a permanent collisionless shock called the bow shock (depicted by the yellow arc) is formed. The bow shock forms in front of the nose of the magnetopause – the external boundary layer of the magnetosphere.