What is Solar Wind?
The solar wind is a stream of charged particles flowing out from the Sun, or any star, in all directions. The solar wind is mostly made up of free protons and electrons (plasma) with energies of about 1 keV (kilo-electron-volt). This quite energetic, but solar wind is usually harmless because of its low density. The solar wind extends outwards about 100 AU (astronomical units, Earth-Sun distances), about three times as far from the Sun as the orbit of Neptune, at which point it collides with the interstellar medium. The region where the solar wind is dominant is known as the heliosphere. It is not completely known how the solar wind escapes the Sun and travels outward. It is partially due to the extremely high temperature of the corona, thehighest layer of the Sun’s atmosphere, which ranges between 1 and 3 million Kelvin (1 and 3 million Celsius, 1.8 and 5.4 million Fahrenheit), reaching occasional highs of 10 million Kelvin. The high temperature of the corona is an unsolved question i
The Sun is Earth’s nearest star and it is made up of mostly of hydrogen gas. The sun boils off protons, electrons, and lesser amounts of positively charged nuclei of elements heavier than hydrogen and turns these charged particles into the fourth state of matter known as plasma. The Sun’s plasma is so hot that the most energeticly charged particles escape from the Sun’s gravity and fly out into space. This plasma makes up what is known as the solar wind.
The solar wind is a stream of energized, charged particles, primarily electrons and protons, flowing outward from the Sun, through the solar system at speeds as high as 900 km/s and at a temperature of 1 million degrees (Celsius). It is made of plasma. The Sun’s corona, taken by the SOHO satellite with a special camera that blocks out light from the Sun’s main disk. Courtesy of SOHO consortium. SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.” The solar wind is caused by the hot solar corona, which is the outermost layer of the solar atmosphere, expanding into space. The corona is the “rim” of the Sun that is visible to the naked eye during a solar eclipse. The solar wind is what blows the tails of comets back away from the bodies of comets as they go through the solar system. Comet Hale-Bopp. Photo Credit: A. Dimai and D. Ghirardo, (Col Druscie Obs.
Solar wind is the outflow of charged particles from the sun’s outer atmosphere (corona).The charged particles, or ions, are created under the conditions of extreme heat that exist in the corona—up to 3.6 million degrees Fahrenheit (2 million degrees Celsius). Atoms within the gases of the corona heat up, collide, and lose electrons. Solar wind is a state of matter called plasma, which is different from a solid, liquid, or gas. The solar wind flows away from the sun at a speed of 310 miles (500 kilometers) per second. As solar wind approaches Earth and other planets, it gets caught up in the planetary magnetosphere. The magnetosphere is the region surrounding a planet, occupied by the lines of force of its magnetic field. The magnetosphere protects a planet from the effects of solar wind. In 1959, the Soviet spacecraft Luna 2 confirmed the existence of solar wind and made the first measurements…
