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Getting Squeezed
Featured on December 7, 2021
The planet Saturn generates a powerful magnetic field that usually encompasses Titan and its other moons. At times, though, it's compressed enough by the solar wind -- a steady stream of charged particles from the Sun -- to leave Titan unprotected. The solar wind sculpts Saturn's magnetic field into a tear-drop shape. The Sun-facing side of the magnetic field is compressed toward Saturn, while the trailing side extends much farther into space. [ESA]