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Properties and structure

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Fast and slow solar wind edit 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. By contrast, the fast solar wind has a typical velocity of 750 km/s , a temperature of 800 MK and it nearly matches the composition of the Sun's photosphere. The slow solar wind is twice as dense and more variable in nature than the fast solar wind. The slow solar wind appears to originate from a region around the Sun's equatorial belt that is known as the "streamer belt", where coronal streamers are produced by magnetic flux open to the heliosphere draping over closed magnetic loops. The exact coronal structures involved in slow solar wind formation and the method by which the material is released is ...
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Outer limits

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The solar wind "blows a bubble" in the interstellar medium (the rarefied hydrogen and helium gas that permeates the galaxy). The point where the solar wind's strength is no longer great enough to push back the interstellar medium is known as the heliopause and is often considered to be the outer border of the Solar System. The distance to the heliopause is not precisely known and probably depends on the current velocity of the solar wind and the local density of the interstellar medium, but it is far outside Pluto's orbit. Scientists hope to gain perspective on the heliopause from data acquired through the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX) mission, launched in October 2008. The end of the heliosphere is noted as one of the ways defining the extent of the Solar System, along with the Kuiper Belt, and finally the radius at which of the Sun's gravitational influence is matched by other stars. The maximum extent of that influence has been estimated at between 50,0...
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Acceleration

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While early models of the solar wind relied primarily on thermal energy to accelerate the material, by the 1960s it was clear that thermal acceleration alone cannot account for the high speed of solar wind. An additional unknown acceleration mechanism is required and likely relates to magnetic fields in the solar atmosphere. The Sun's corona, or extended outer layer, is a region of plasma that is heated to over a megakelvin. As a result of thermal collisions, the particles within the inner corona have a range and distribution of speeds described by a Maxwellian distribution. The mean velocity of these particles is about 145 km/s , which is well below the solar escape velocity of 618 km/s . However, a few of the particles achieve energies sufficient to reach the terminal velocity of 400 km/s , which allows them to feed the solar wind. At the same temperature, electrons, due to their much smaller mass, reach escape velocity and build up an electric field that further accelerates ions...
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