Solar Wind
Solar wind is the plasma of charged particles (protons, electrons, and heavier ionized atoms) coming out of the Sun in all directions at very high speeds -- an average of about 400 km/sec, almost a million mph! It is responsible for the anti-sunward tails of comets and the shape of the magnetic fields around the planets. Solar wind can also have a measurable effects on the flight paths of spacecraft.
Solar Wind Model -- University of Alaska This image of Comet Hale-Bopp is courtesy of Fred Espenak, NASA GSFC.
The solar wind varies routinely through the 27-day rotation of the Sun, as well as sporadically, in response to violent eruptions in the corona. These eruptions can result in geomagnetic storms on Earth. Read more about space weather...
The composition of the solar wind reflects the composition of the solar corona, modified by solar wind processes. The exact mechanism of solar wind formation is not known. Accurately measuring its composition aids in separating the effects of these processes from the original makeup of the corona. Solar Wind in the News:
January 8, 2009: Hubble
finds stars that go 'ballistic' -- Science Daily January 7, 2009: The Galactic core in infrared -- APOD December 22, 2008: What keeps the solar wind hot? -- APS Physics December 16, 2008: Sun often "tears out a wall" in Earth's solar storm shield -- NASA THEMIS December 15, 2008: A giant breach in Earth's magnetic field -- Science@NASA December 15, 2008: SABER reveals the upper atmosphere's "breathing" pattern, in rhythm with the Sun -- NASA December 15, 2008: Charge and exchange -- HEAPOW November 21, 2008: Solar wind rips up Martian atmosphere -- Science@NASA October 30, 2008: Hot solar wind in cold outer space -- The Weather Channel September 29, 2008: Hidden boundaries of sunspots pump out plasma into interplanetary space -- NASA September 23, 2008: Ulysses spacecraft data indicate Solar System shield lowering -- ESA September 23, 2008: Solar wind loses power, hits 50-year low -- Science@NASA September 18, 2008: Weaker solar wind from the polar coronal holes and the whole Sun -- Geophysical Research Letters July 26, 2008: Central IC 1805 -- APOD June 23, 2008: XMM-Newton watches lazy pulsar being jazzed up by companion -- ESA June 10, 2008: NASA plans to visit the sun -- Science@NASA May 22, 2008: Windblown NGC 3199 -- APOD May 8, 2008: Joint ESA/NASA team wins international award -- ESA May 1, 2008: NASA calls on APL to send probe to the sun -- JHU/APL April 16, 2008: Electric solar wind sail could power future space travel in solar system -- Science Daily April 13, 2008: Curious cometary knots in the Helix Nebula -- APOD April 10, 2008: Moondust in the wind -- Science@NASA April 2, 2008: Hinode: Source of the slow solar wind and superhot flares -- ESA March 19, 2008: Cometary x-ray emission: Using comets as natural solar wind probes -- ACE News March 15, 2008: Crashed probe yields sun secrets -- BBC March 13, 2008: The solar system's first breath -- Nature January 30, 2008: Mercury's magnetosphere fends off the solar wind -- Eurekalert January 30, 2008: NASA astrophysicist wins Arctowski Medal -- NASA GSFC January 14, 2008: Ulysses spacecraft flies over Sun's north pole -- NASA JPL December 12, 2007: Surprises at the solar system's edge -- Astronomy.com December 10, 2007: Voyager 2 probe leaves the neighborhood -- Nature December 10, 2007: MIT instrument finds surprises at solar system's edge -- MIT December 10, 2007: A jet from the Sun -- APOD December 10, 2007: Sunburst -- HEASARC Picture of the Week December 7, 2007: Hinode mission delves into solar mysteries -- AAAS December 6, 2007: Spacecraft reveals new insights about the origin of solar wind -- NASA December 6, 2007: The Sun is bristling with x-ray jets -- Science@NASA November 5, 2007: Comet Holmes grows a tail -- APOD November 1, 2007: Analysis of solar wind helps illuminate how our solar system evolved -- Science Daily October 29, 2007: Washington University scientists analyze solar wind samples from Genesis mission -- Eurekalert October 24, 2007: Chang'e-1 -- New mission to Moon lifts off -- Eurekalert August 20, 2007: Pioneering ANSA spacecraft mark thirty years of flight -- NASA JPL August 13, 2007: Energy cascade in the solar wind -- ACE News August 9, 2007: Swarming starlings help probe plasma, crowds, and stock market -- Eurekalert June 11, 2007: Global distribution of slow solar wind during Solar Cycle 23 -- ACE News May 25, 2007: Astrophysicists find fractal image of Sun's 'storm season' imprinted on solar wind -- EurekAlert! May 16, 2007: Helium may set minimum speed limit for solar wind -- NASA GSFC May 15, 2007: Cluster makes a shocking discovery -- SpaceDaily April 16, 2007: Prolonged reconnection at an extended and continuous X-line in the solar wind -- ACE News March 29, 2007: Magnetic fields get reconnected in turbulent plasma too, Cluster reveals -- SpaceDaily February 20, 2007: A cool solar mystery -- Science@NASA February 20, 2007: Lockheed Martin scientists determine magnetic reconnection locations at Earth's magnetopause -- SpaceDaily February 9, 2007: New Horizons observes solar wind interactions -- Spaceflight Now January 17, 2007: THEMIS will judge what causes highly dynamic aurora -- NASA GSFC Solar Wind Activities
Grades 5 - 8: Dynamic Design: A Collection Process -- Genesis mission Grades 9 - 12: ACE RTSW Data and Traditional Physics Problems -- NASA GSFC Grades 9 - 12: Interpreting Realtime ACE Data From Space -- NASA GSFC Grades 9-12: Cosmic Chemistry: Understanding Elements -- Genesis mission
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January 9, 2009
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