Solar wind: what is it and what causes it?

09:47

Solar wind: what is it and what causes it?

Solar wind speeds were recorded as 534km/s on Sunday (19 June) by the NWS Space Weather Prediction Center, but what is the phenomenon and how is it caused?

According to NASA, solar wind is an outward stream of plasma from the Sun's corona, or outer atmosphere.

The plasma is heated to a point where the Sun's gravity is unable to hold it down, and so they stream away.

The sun creates a constant stream of "wind" as it rotates once every 27 days.

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