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:
April 23, 2012: Evaporating blobs of
the Carina nebula -- APOD
March 19, 2012: Solar cycle abundance variations in corotating interaction regions -- ACE News
March 9, 2012: Solar wind explodes on Venus -- Astrobiology
March 3, 2012: Another tail for Comet Garradd -- APOD
February 28, 2012: The opposing tails of Comet Garradd -- APOD
February 26, 2012: The mysterious rings of Supernova 1987A -- APOD
February 4, 2012: Comet Garradd and M92 -- APOD
January 20, 2012: Comet corpses in the solar wind -- Science@NASA
December 31, 2011: Comet Lovejoy and the ISS -- APOD
December 22, 2011: Mercury's magnetic field -- nipped in the bud -- Max Planck Institute
November 15, 2011: Why solar wind is rhombic-shaped: Temperature and energy equipartition in cosmic plasmas explained -- Science Daily
November 7, 2011: Solar wind sonification -- ACE News
October 17, 2011: Radial variation of the solar wind temperature-speed relationship -- ACE News
October 11, 2011: NGC 7635: The Bubble Nebula -- APOD
October 4, 2011: Dark and bright: ESA chooses next two science missions -- ESA
October 3, 2011: High and low -- HEAPOW
July 20, 2011: Cosmic superbubble carved by stellar winds from bright young stars and supernova shockwaves -- Science Daily
July 11, 2011: Clumps in the wind -- HEAPOW
June 27, 2011: Solar wind sheds light on early solar system -- Physics World
June 25, 2011: The breath of the solar system's birth -- Astrobiology
May 2, 2011: Ion-proton differential streaming in the solar wind -- ACE News
March 21, 2011: The importance of being magnetized -- Astrobiology
March 10, 2011: Vaoyger rolls to see which way the solar wind is blowing -- Astrobiolgy
March 10, 2011: Speed demon creates a shock -- NASA
February 14, 2011: Sail e-way -- Scientific American
February 4, 2011: Zeta Oph: Runaway star -- APOD
December 19, 2010: M82: Galaxy with a supergalactic wind -- APOD
December 15, 2010: Voyager crosses the point of solar stillness -- Astrobiology
December 1, 2010: Solar observation mission celebrates 15 years -- NASA
November 21, 2010: A massive star in NGC 6357 -- APOD
October 27, 2010: Dead spacecraft walking -- Science@NASA
October 5, 2010: MAVEN mission to investigate how sun steals Martian atmosphere -- NASA
October 4, 2010: Cluster helps disentangle turbulence in the solar wind -- NASA
September 24, 2010: Magnetic anomalies shield the moon -- Astronomy
September 2, 2010: The Bubble nebula -- APOD
September 2, 2010: NASA selects science investigations for Solar Probe Plus -- NASA
July 16, 2010: Shaping NGC 6188 -- APOD
June 28, 2010: Current sheets as intermittent structures: ACE/MAG observations -- ACE News
June 15, 2010: Enigmatic star could emerge from its gassy cocoon -- Nature
June 5, 2010: Thor's Helmet -- APOD
May 13, 2010: The magnificent Horsehead nebula -- APOD
April 30, 2010: Mapping turbulence in the solar wind -- Physical Review Focus
April 16, 2010: Lunar polar craters may be electrified -- NASA
March 25, 2010: Direct measurement of the turbulent cascade in interplanetary space -- ACE News
March 11, 2010: New merged data set for enhanced solar wind proton data from ACE -- ACE News
March 11, 2010: Solar wind pulses help blow away martian atmosphere -- Astronomy
January 15, 2010: Giant ribbon at the edge of the solar system: Mystery solved? -- Science@NASA
December 25, 2009: Weir in space and dimmed Sun creates 200-million-mile-long lab bench for turbulence research -- Science Daily
December 6, 2009: The magnificent tail of Comet McNaught -- APOD
December 2, 2009: Dust sculptures inthe Rosette nebula -- APOD
November 2, 2009: Solar winds triggered by magnetic fields -- Eurekalert
October 23, 2009: NASA mission to study the Moon's fragile atmosphere -- Science@NASA
October 16, 2009: "Rejected" protons offer a new view of the Moon -- National Geographic
September 28, 2009: Water discovered on the Moon -- APOD
September 16, 2009: The Tarantula zone -- APOD
September 15, 2009: NGC 6888: The Crescent Nebula -- APOD
September 11, 2009: Surprise in Earth's upper atmosphere: Mode of energy transfer from the solar wind -- Science Daily
September 1, 2009: Signs of ideal surfing conditions spotted in ocean of solar wind -- University of Warwick
July 31, 2009: Nonuniformity of spectral indices in the inertial range -- ACE News
July 17, 2009: First 'flag' on the Moon? -- ESA
July 5, 2009: Genesis mission's hard impact -- APOD
July 5, 2009: Fast neutral hydrogen detected coming from the Moon -- Science Daily
July 2, 2009: AGU journal highlights -- #3 & 12 -- Eurekalert
June 18, 2009: NASA IBEX spacecraft detects neutral hydrogen bouncing off Moon -- Universe Today
June 2, 2009: Magnetic tornadoes could liberate Mercury's tenuous atmosphere -- NASA
May 29, 2009: Sun stealing Earth's atmosphere -- National Geographic
May 25, 2009: The color of Carina -- HEAPOW
April 25, 2009: Space missions to visit the Sun -- UK Telegraph
April 22, 2009: Stars can strip gas giants naked -- National Geographic
April 22, 2009: Solar wind tans young asteroids -- ESO
April 10, 2009: A one-sided aspect of Alfvenic fluctuations in the solar wind -- ACE News
April 9, 2009: Scientists pinpoint the 'edge of space' -- Eurekalert
March 27, 2009: Cluster satellites investigate space turbulence -- Astronomy.com
March 9, 2009: A swiftly tilting comet -- HEAPOW
February 21, 2009: The Swift view of Comet Lulin -- APOD
February 7, 2009: Comet Lulin tails -- APOD
February 2, 2009: Evacuation route -- HEAPOW
January 28, 2009: NASA Goddard to investigate the stormy Moon -- NASA GSFC
January 24, 2009: The Bubble Nebula -- APOD
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
March 19, 2012: Solar cycle abundance variations in corotating interaction regions -- ACE News
March 9, 2012: Solar wind explodes on Venus -- Astrobiology
March 3, 2012: Another tail for Comet Garradd -- APOD
February 28, 2012: The opposing tails of Comet Garradd -- APOD
February 26, 2012: The mysterious rings of Supernova 1987A -- APOD
February 4, 2012: Comet Garradd and M92 -- APOD
January 20, 2012: Comet corpses in the solar wind -- Science@NASA
December 31, 2011: Comet Lovejoy and the ISS -- APOD
December 22, 2011: Mercury's magnetic field -- nipped in the bud -- Max Planck Institute
November 15, 2011: Why solar wind is rhombic-shaped: Temperature and energy equipartition in cosmic plasmas explained -- Science Daily
November 7, 2011: Solar wind sonification -- ACE News
October 17, 2011: Radial variation of the solar wind temperature-speed relationship -- ACE News
October 11, 2011: NGC 7635: The Bubble Nebula -- APOD
October 4, 2011: Dark and bright: ESA chooses next two science missions -- ESA
October 3, 2011: High and low -- HEAPOW
July 20, 2011: Cosmic superbubble carved by stellar winds from bright young stars and supernova shockwaves -- Science Daily
July 11, 2011: Clumps in the wind -- HEAPOW
June 27, 2011: Solar wind sheds light on early solar system -- Physics World
June 25, 2011: The breath of the solar system's birth -- Astrobiology
May 2, 2011: Ion-proton differential streaming in the solar wind -- ACE News
March 21, 2011: The importance of being magnetized -- Astrobiology
March 10, 2011: Vaoyger rolls to see which way the solar wind is blowing -- Astrobiolgy
March 10, 2011: Speed demon creates a shock -- NASA
February 14, 2011: Sail e-way -- Scientific American
February 4, 2011: Zeta Oph: Runaway star -- APOD
December 19, 2010: M82: Galaxy with a supergalactic wind -- APOD
December 15, 2010: Voyager crosses the point of solar stillness -- Astrobiology
December 1, 2010: Solar observation mission celebrates 15 years -- NASA
November 21, 2010: A massive star in NGC 6357 -- APOD
October 27, 2010: Dead spacecraft walking -- Science@NASA
October 5, 2010: MAVEN mission to investigate how sun steals Martian atmosphere -- NASA
October 4, 2010: Cluster helps disentangle turbulence in the solar wind -- NASA
September 24, 2010: Magnetic anomalies shield the moon -- Astronomy
September 2, 2010: The Bubble nebula -- APOD
September 2, 2010: NASA selects science investigations for Solar Probe Plus -- NASA
July 16, 2010: Shaping NGC 6188 -- APOD
June 28, 2010: Current sheets as intermittent structures: ACE/MAG observations -- ACE News
June 15, 2010: Enigmatic star could emerge from its gassy cocoon -- Nature
June 5, 2010: Thor's Helmet -- APOD
May 13, 2010: The magnificent Horsehead nebula -- APOD
April 30, 2010: Mapping turbulence in the solar wind -- Physical Review Focus
April 16, 2010: Lunar polar craters may be electrified -- NASA
March 25, 2010: Direct measurement of the turbulent cascade in interplanetary space -- ACE News
March 11, 2010: New merged data set for enhanced solar wind proton data from ACE -- ACE News
March 11, 2010: Solar wind pulses help blow away martian atmosphere -- Astronomy
January 15, 2010: Giant ribbon at the edge of the solar system: Mystery solved? -- Science@NASA
December 25, 2009: Weir in space and dimmed Sun creates 200-million-mile-long lab bench for turbulence research -- Science Daily
December 6, 2009: The magnificent tail of Comet McNaught -- APOD
December 2, 2009: Dust sculptures inthe Rosette nebula -- APOD
November 2, 2009: Solar winds triggered by magnetic fields -- Eurekalert
October 23, 2009: NASA mission to study the Moon's fragile atmosphere -- Science@NASA
October 16, 2009: "Rejected" protons offer a new view of the Moon -- National Geographic
September 28, 2009: Water discovered on the Moon -- APOD
September 16, 2009: The Tarantula zone -- APOD
September 15, 2009: NGC 6888: The Crescent Nebula -- APOD
September 11, 2009: Surprise in Earth's upper atmosphere: Mode of energy transfer from the solar wind -- Science Daily
September 1, 2009: Signs of ideal surfing conditions spotted in ocean of solar wind -- University of Warwick
July 31, 2009: Nonuniformity of spectral indices in the inertial range -- ACE News
July 17, 2009: First 'flag' on the Moon? -- ESA
July 5, 2009: Genesis mission's hard impact -- APOD
July 5, 2009: Fast neutral hydrogen detected coming from the Moon -- Science Daily
July 2, 2009: AGU journal highlights -- #3 & 12 -- Eurekalert
June 18, 2009: NASA IBEX spacecraft detects neutral hydrogen bouncing off Moon -- Universe Today
June 2, 2009: Magnetic tornadoes could liberate Mercury's tenuous atmosphere -- NASA
May 29, 2009: Sun stealing Earth's atmosphere -- National Geographic
May 25, 2009: The color of Carina -- HEAPOW
April 25, 2009: Space missions to visit the Sun -- UK Telegraph
April 22, 2009: Stars can strip gas giants naked -- National Geographic
April 22, 2009: Solar wind tans young asteroids -- ESO
April 10, 2009: A one-sided aspect of Alfvenic fluctuations in the solar wind -- ACE News
April 9, 2009: Scientists pinpoint the 'edge of space' -- Eurekalert
March 27, 2009: Cluster satellites investigate space turbulence -- Astronomy.com
March 9, 2009: A swiftly tilting comet -- HEAPOW
February 21, 2009: The Swift view of Comet Lulin -- APOD
February 7, 2009: Comet Lulin tails -- APOD
February 2, 2009: Evacuation route -- HEAPOW
January 28, 2009: NASA Goddard to investigate the stormy Moon -- NASA GSFC
January 24, 2009: The Bubble Nebula -- APOD
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
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
Click on images above to
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A service of the Heliophysics
Science Division at NASA's GSFC
Questions and comments to: cosmicopia@cosmicra.gsfc.nasa.gov
Curator: Dr Eric R. Christian, NASA
Responsible NASA Official: Dr Eric R. Christian
Privacy Policy and Important Notices
Questions and comments to: cosmicopia@cosmicra.gsfc.nasa.gov
Curator: Dr Eric R. Christian, NASA
Responsible NASA Official: Dr Eric R. Christian
Privacy Policy and Important Notices
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