Solar magnetic field.

A magnetic field is produced by, and associated with, moving charges (electrical currents). In a simple ring current, a dipolar field resembling the field of a bar magnet is what results. Complex interactions of charges occur everywhere in nature, and the large-scale motion of charges is extensive and intricate. Thus, depending on the current, magnetic fields can be found almost anywhere in various strengths. As an example, Earth’s dipolar magnetic field is about 0.6 gauss, rather weak compared to solar active regions with field strengths of a few thousand gauss and pulsars with field strengths of 1 trillion gauss. Interactions between magnetic fields and charged particles result in the emission of X-rays, the energizing and modulation of cosmic rays, and the acceleration of charged particles. This is seen when a strong solar magnetic field expels charged particles from the Sun, while the weaker terrestrial magnetic field interacts with these particles. This forms a protective shield around Earth by deflecting many of them and letting some into the upper atmosphere producing the auroras (the northern and southern lights).