# Studing the Van Allen Radiation Belts

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studing-the-van-allen-radiation-belts/189773>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 20, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studing-the-van-allen-radiation-belts/189773 "2003-07-20T18:03:36Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Trigonal\_Planar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/0ea827/32.png) [@Trigonal\_Planar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trigonal_Planar)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2003, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/studing-the-van-allen-radiation-belts/189773/1 "2003-07-20T18:03:36Z")

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Sometimes on TV documentaries when talking about the discovery of Van Allen belts, they show this 1950s footage of a particular experiment in which a small globe is set in place at some sort of paritcle stream is shot at it. This then produces a Van Allen belt effect around the globe.

Can anyone illudicate on what this experiment may be? I’m assuming the globe has a strong bar magnet inside and the whole thing is in an evacuated chamber; electrons are then shot at the globe.