Solar Wind
The Solar Wind is a stream of charged particles released from the upper atmosphere of a star, called the corona.
Description (Specifications)[edit]
This plasma, or stream of charged particles, consists of mostly electrons, protons and alpha particles with kinetic energy between 0.5 and 10 keV. Embedded within the solar-wind plasma is the interplanetary magnetic field. The solar wind varies in density, temperature and speed over time and over solar latitude and longitude. Its particles can escape the Sun's gravity because of their high energy resulting from the high temperature of the corona, which in turn is a result of the coronal magnetic field.
At a distance of more than a few solar radii from a star, the solar wind is supersonic and reaches speeds of 250 to 750 kilometers per second. The flow of the solar wind is no longer supersonic at the termination shock.
Image Repository[edit]
No information yet available.
History & Background (Dossier)[edit]
The Solar Wind is importance to many civilizations who use it as an energy source for spacecraft propulsion through the use of Solar Sails and related devices.
Devices Known to Use the Solar Wind[edit]
- Solar Sail AKA Light Sail AKA Photon Sail
- Electric Sail AKA Electric Solar Wind Sail AKA E-sail
- Magnetic Sail AKA Magsail
References & Contributors (Sources)[edit]
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This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Wind Solar Wind. The list of authors can be seen in the Wind&action=history page history. The text of Wikipedia is available under the Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. |
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- Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science