Earth's Bow Shock (IMAGE) University of Maryland Caption A giant magnetic field (swirling blue lines) surrounds Earth. As Earth travels through solar wind (orange area), its magnetic field creates a bow shock in front of itself (pale blue area). Credit NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Usage Restrictions With attribution. License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.