Third radiation belt discovered

John Grunsfeld, NASA's associate administrator for science, said: “The
fantastic new capabilities and advances in technology in the Van Allen
Probes have allowed scientists to see in unprecedented detail how the
radiation belts are populated with charged particles and will provide
insight on what causes them to change, and how these processes affect the
upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere.”

The outer of the two Van Allen belts had previously been seen as one blurry
ring, but high resolution images taken by the Relativistic Electron Proton
Telescope instrument on board the probes revealed two separate rings with a
clear space in between. The new belt was visible for four weeks before being
destroyed by a shock wave released by the Sun.

Nicky Fox, Van Allen Probes deputy project scientist at the Johns Hopkins
University, said: "We thought we knew the radiation belts, but we don't. The
advances in technology and detection made by NASA in this mission already
have had an almost immediate impact on basic science.”

Source:
http://www.news.ezonearticle.com/2013/03/03/third-radiation-belt-discovered/