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The Wind from the Sun

The solar wind is perhaps one of the most poorly understood astronomical phenomena, at least in the general populace. This stream of charged particles from the solar corona spreads out throughout the Solar System, and is believed to extend well beyond the Kuiper Belt. This volume of space is known as the heliosphere.

The point at which the solar wind meets the interstellar medium is known as the heliopause, and is believed to be a region of great turbulence. Because the Sun follows an orbit around the central black hole of the Milky Way galaxy, the heliosphere is not a true sphere, but rather a shape more like a comet. The region of the heliosphere in the direction of the Sun’s orbit is compressed by its collision with the interstellar medium, while the trailing parts of the heliosphere extend like a wake.

Popular misconceptions about the solar wind are heavily influenced by early science fiction, especially space operas in which space is treated like an ocean. Although the solar wind is an important contributor to space weather, it does not drive solar storms such as flares or coronal mass ejections the way atmospheric winds drive hurricanes or mesocyclones on Earth.

—- Rand Littleton, response to essay question on solar wind, Introduction to Astrodynamics.

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