In astrophysics, a magnetic mirror point is a point where the motion of a charged particle trapped in a magnetic field (such as the Earth's) reverses its direction. More precisely, it is the point where the projection of the particle's velocity vector in the direction of the field vector is equal to zero.
Famous quotes containing the words magnetic, mirror and/or point:
“We are in great haste to construct a magnetic telegraph from Maine to Texas; but Maine and Texas, it may be, have nothing important to communicate.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“There is a small steam engine in his brain which not only sets the cerebral mass in motion, but keeps the owner in hot water.”
—Unknown. New York Weekly Mirror (July 5, 1845)
“For the poet the credo or doctrine is not the point of arrival but is, on the contrary, the point of departure for the metaphysical journey.”
—Joseph Brodsky (b. 1940)