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radiation belt

American

noun

Physics.

Van Allen belt.

radiation belt British

noun

a region in the magnetosphere of a planet in which charged particles are trapped by the planet's magnetic field, an example being the earth's Van Allen belts

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of radiation belt

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"In 2019, Earth experienced one of these events, which caused an immense amount of radiation belt electron acceleration," said SwRI's Dr. Sarah Vines, a co-author of the paper.

From Science Daily • Feb. 7, 2026

Researchers have spied the first radiation belt outside the Solar System.

From Science Magazine • May 17, 2023

Mars used to have a radiation belt, but it disappeared over time as its magnetic field all but disappeared.

From Salon • May 17, 2023

Trapped inside Jupiter’s radiation belt and internally heated by the planet’s powerful tidal forces, which knead the moon’s innards like dough, Io is a completely ice-free world of hyperactive volcanoes.

From Scientific American • Apr. 24, 2023

The spacecraft must pass through the outer edge of this radiation belt to examine Jupiter and its moons close up, and to continue its mission to Saturn and beyond.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023