Solar wind
hideThe solar wind is a stream of charged particles—a plasma—ejected from the upper atmosphere of the sun. It consists mostly of electrons and protons with energies of about 1 keV. The stream of particles varies in temperature and speed with the passage of time. These particles are able to escape the sun's gravity, in part because of the high temperature of the corona, but also because of high kinetic energy that particles gain through a process that is not well-understood.
The solar wind creates the Heliosphere, a vast bubble in the interstellar medium surrounding the solar system. Other phenomena include geomagnetic storms that can knock out power grids on Earth, the aurorae such as the Northern Lights, and the plasma tails of comets that always point away from the sun.
For more information about Solar wind, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with solar wind
Solar winds triggered by magnetic fields
Nov 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Solar wind generated by the sun is probably driven by a process involving powerful magnetic fields, according to a new study led by UCL (University College London) researchers based on the ...
Galactic magnetic fields may control the boundaries of our solar system
Oct 16, 2009 |
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The first all-sky maps developed by NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft, the initial mission to examine the global interactions occurring at the edge of the solar system, suggest that the galac ...
Cassini Data Help Redraw Shape of Solar System (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 16, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Images from the Ion and Neutral Camera on NASA's Cassini spacecraft suggest that the heliosphere, the region of the sun's influence, may not have the comet-like shape predicted by existing ...
Scientists Explore Galactic Frontier, Release First-Ever All-Sky Map (w/ Video)
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 15, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, spacecraft has made it possible for scientists to construct the first comprehensive sky map of our solar system and its location in the Milky ...
How the Moon produces its own water
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 15, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The Moon is a big sponge that absorbs electrically charged particles given out by the Sun. These particles interact with the oxygen present in some dust grains on the lunar surface, producing ...
With stimulus aid, scientists hope to mimic nature's dynamos
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 09, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- In the cosmos, all celestial objects - planets, stars, galaxies and clusters of galaxies - have magnetic fields. On Earth, the magnetic field of our home planet is most easily observed in a compass where ...
Cosmic Rays Hit Space Age High
Sep 29, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Planning a trip to Mars? Take plenty of shielding. According to sensors on NASA's ACE (Advanced Composition Explorer) spacecraft, galactic cosmic rays have just hit a Space Age high.
Venus Express adds evidence for atmospheric water loss on Earth's Twin
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 16, 2009 |
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Observations by the European Space Agency’s Venus Express mission have provided strong new evidence that the solar wind has stripped away significant quantities of water from Earth’s twin planet. The data ...
Scientists discover surprise in Earth's upper atmosphere
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Sep 10, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- UCLA atmospheric scientists have discovered a previously unknown basic mode of energy transfer from the solar wind to the Earth's magnetosphere. The research, federally funded by the National ...
Signs of ideal surfing conditions spotted in ocean of solar wind
Aug 31, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Warwick have found what could be the signal of ideal wave "surfing" conditions for individual particles within the massive turbulent ocean of the solar wind. The discovery ...
Mystery Source of Solar Wind Heating Identified
Jul 17, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The solar wind is hotter than it should be, and for decades researchers have puzzled over the unknown source of energy that heats it. In a paper published in the June 12 issue of Physical Re ...
Scientists bid adieu to plucky solar probe
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jun 30, 2009 |
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US and European scientists were Tuesday bidding farewell to the tenacious solar probe Ulysses which has been recording data around the sun for more than 18 years, four times longer than planned.
IBEX spacecraft detects fast neutral hydrogen coming from the moon
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jun 18, 2009 |
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NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) spacecraft has made the first observations of very fast hydrogen atoms coming from the moon, following decades of speculation and searching for their existence.
Magnetic Tornadoes Could Liberate Mercury's Tenuous Atmosphere
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jun 02, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- As the closest planet to the sun, Mercury is scorching hot, with daytime temperatures of more than 800 degrees Fahrenheit (approximately 450 degrees Celsius). It is also the smallest rocky ...
Solar wind tans young asteroids
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Apr 22, 2009 |
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A new study published in Nature this week reveals that asteroid surfaces age and redden much faster than previously thought -- in less than a million years, the blink of an eye for an asteroid. This study ...
