Solar storms and wind?
Question:
2. What features or processes casuse 'storms' in solar wind?
3. What kinds of particles are comprised in the solar wind?
Answer:
1. The Sun produces a constant stream of particles that go out into space. One million tons of particles come from the Sun every second. This stream of particles is called the solar wind.The solar wind emanates from the Sun in all directions. it emanates most readily from the Sun's coronal holes. What really causes the solar wind to be accelerated, or blown into space is not well understood.
2. Many phenomena are directly related to the solar wind, this includes geomagnetic storms that can knock out power grids on Earth, auroras like the Northern Lights and the reason the tail of a comet always pointing away from the Sun. The fast and slow solar wind can be interrupted by large, fast-moving bursts of plasma called interplanetary coronal mass ejections. ICMEs are the interplanetary manifestation of solar coronal mass ejections, which are caused by release of magnetic energy at the Sun. ICMEs are often called "solar storms". They are sometimes associated with solar flares.
3. The solar wind mostly consists of protons and electrons. It also consists of ions of almost every element in the periodic table. It is a remnant of the T-Tauri phase of stellar evolution when the newly ignited Sun blew massive quantities of its residual mass into space.
More Questions & Answers...