What is Solar wind?

[KingKong]

What is Solar wind?

[ed84c]

Stream of particles from the sun created in nuclear fusion. Are deflected by magnetosphere. (Anti neutrinos, poistrons etc)

[Ophiolite]

As recompense for my earlier abominable pun, here are some solar wind related sites that are of good quality or special interest.

 

A good overview, with some nice illustrations, and several onward links:

http://science.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/sun_wind.htm

 

 

This is neat. Space weather summarized by a traffic light system.

http://space.rice.edu/ISTP/dials.html

(For a more sophisticated approach you could go here:

http://sec.noaa.gov/ace/ACErtsw_home.html)

 

The Wikipedia article is concise and offers further links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_wind

 

The role of the solar wind in removing most of Mars’ atmosphere:

http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2001/ast31jan_1.htm

 

And because I’ve seen no recent mention of it elsewhere, I’m sneaking in this on the New Horizons probe to Pluto – it does mention solar wind.

http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/new_horizons_solar_wind.html?962004

 

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[Bernstein]

Ophiolite, good link to the Nasa site on the effects of solar wind erosion on the Martian atmosphere. It is always interesting I think to see how essential Earth's magnetic field is to sustain life here. We often take for granted the Earth's distance from the sun and its abundance of H2O as the principal reasons for its life-bearing ability. The fact that it also has a strong magnetic field caused by convection currents in the magma beneath the mantel is sometimes largely overlooked. Without this phenomenon it would be impossible to live on Earth. We would all have to migrate to Titan!

[Ophiolite]

You make a thoroughly valid point. There are so many peculiar (in the strict sense of the word), even unique aspects about the Earth, its location and external environment, any of which, were they different, would have prevented life evolving, or would have destroyed it by now.

 

That's why I am a pessimist when it comes to the possibility of advanced alien life.

[swansont]

Stream of particles from the sun created in nuclear fusion. Are deflected by magnetosphere. (Anti neutrinos, poistrons etc)

 

Neutrinos are not affected by the magnetosphere.