thumb|right|Plasmoide natural produzido próximo ao rabo magnético terrestre.
Um plasmoide é uma estrutura coerente de plasma e campos magnéticos. Plasmoides foram propostos para explicar fenômenos naturais tais como raios globulares,Silberg, Paul A., "Ball Lightning and Plasmoids", (1962) Journal of Geophysical Research, Vol. 67, p.4941 bolhas magnéticas na magnetosfera,Hones, E. W., Jr., "The magnetotail - Its generation and dissipation", (1976) Physics of solar planetary environments; Proceedings of the International Symposium on Solar-Terrestrial Physics, Boulder, Colo., June 7-18, 1976. Volume 2. e objetos em rabos de cometas,Roosen, R. G.; Brandt, J. C., "Possible Detection of Colliding Plasmoids in the Tail of Comet Kohoutek" (1976), Study of Comets, Proceedings of IAU Colloq. 25, held in Greenbelt, MD, 28 October - 1 November, 1974. Edited by B. D. Donn, M. Mumma, W. Jackson, M. A'Hearn, and R. Harrington. National Aeronautics and Space Administration SP 393, 1976., p.378 no vento solar,Lemaire, J.; Roth, M., Differences between solar wind plasmoids and ideal magnetohydrodynamic filaments Planetary and Space Science, Volume 29, Issue 8, p. 843-849Wang, S.; Lee, L. C.; Wei, C. Q.; Akasofu, S.-I., A mechanism for the formation of plasmoids and kink waves in the heliospheric current sheet (1988) Solar Physics (ISSN 0038-0938), vol. 117, no. 1, 1988, p. 157-169. na atmosfera solar,Cargill, P. J.; Pneuman, G. W., "The energy balance of plasmoids in the solar atmosphere" (1986), Astrophysical Journal, Part 1 (ISSN 0004-637X), vol. 307, Aug. 15, 1986, p. 820-825. e na camada heliosférica difusa.
Categoria:Astrofísica Categoria:Plasmas espaciais