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The solar wind is observed to exist in two fundamental states, termed the slow solar wind and the fast solar wind, though their differences extend well beyond their speeds. In near-Earth space, the slow solar wind is observed to have a velocity of 300–500 km/s, a temperature of ~100 MK and a composition that is a close match to the corona.
Earth's magnetic field, predominantly dipolar at its surface, is distorted further out by the solar wind. This is a stream of charged particles leaving the Sun's corona and accelerating to a speed of 200 to 1000 kilometres per second. They carry with them a magnetic field, the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF).
The interplanetary magnetic field at the Earth's orbit varies with waves and other disturbances in the solar wind, known as " space weather ." The field is a vector, with components in the radial and azimuthal directions as well as a component perpendicular to the ecliptic. The field varies in strength near the Earth from 1 to 37 nT, averaging ...
Magnetosphere. A rendering of the magnetic field lines of the magnetosphere of the Earth. In astronomy and planetary science, a magnetosphere is a region of space surrounding an astronomical object in which charged particles are affected by that object's magnetic field. [ 1][ 2] It is created by a celestial body with an active interior dynamo.
A geomagnetic storm, also known as a magnetic storm, is a temporary disturbance of the Earth 's magnetosphere caused by a solar wind shock wave. The disturbance that drives the magnetic storm may be a solar coronal mass ejection (CME) or (much less severely) a co-rotating interaction region (CIR), a high-speed stream of solar wind originating ...
The solar wind is supersonic and passes through a bow shock where the direction of flow is changed so that most of the solar wind plasma is deflected to either side of the magnetopause, much like water is deflected before the bow of a ship. The zone of shocked solar wind plasma is the magnetosheath. At Earth and all the other planets with ...
Solar particle event. Radio emission. v. t. e. Van Allen radiation belt is a zone of energetic charged particles, most of which originate from the solar wind, that are captured by and held around a planet by that planet's magnetosphere. Earth has two such belts, and sometimes others may be temporarily created.
The solar wind is divided into the slow solar wind and the fast solar wind. The slow solar wind has a velocity of about 400 kilometres per second (250 mi/s), a temperature of 2 × 10 5 K and a composition that is a close match to the corona. The fast solar wind has a typical velocity of 750 km/s, a temperature of 8 × 10 5 K and nearly matches ...