What Is the Van Allen Belt?

Dr. James Van Allen, an American physicist, had been studying space satellites for many years, and in 1958 he came to the conclusion that the reason life on earth is not destroyed by radiation from the sun is due to two belts that surround the earth.

These belts, named after Dr. Van Allen, are actually like doughnuts around the earth, beginning about 2,000 miles from the earth and extending 12,000 miles into space.

They are believed to trap dangerous charged particles of protons and electrons which come from the sun's gases, thus preventing them from hitting the earth and destroying life on our planet.