magnetotail

[mag-nee-tuh-teyl]

noun Astronomy.

the narrow and elongated region of the magnetosphere of the earth or of another planet that extends in the direction away from the sun.

Origin of magnetotail

First recorded in 1970–75; magneto- + tail¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

magnetotail in Science

[măg-nē′tō-tāl′]

The elongated extension of the Earth's magnetosphere on the side facing away from the Sun. The magnetotail is shaped by the pressure of the solar wind as it streams around the magnetosphere, compressing it on the side facing the Sun and stretching it on the opposite side into a long, taillike shape trailing far into interplanetary space. See more at magnetosphere.