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BeedS
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Can the suns photons accelerate the plasma/solar wind away from the sun? or is there no interaction between them?
What an astute observation! - It's interesting, that the observed velocities of the solar wind cannot be explained by purely kinetic energy based on the temperature of the sun's corona. Radiation pressure from the Sun's blackbody radiation will help accelerate the solar wind, but the effect is still not large enough to account for the wind's high velocities, so it's still an open mystery...BeedS said:Can the suns photons accelerate the plasma/solar wind away from the sun? or is there no interaction between them?
Photons are tiny packets of energy that make up electromagnetic radiation, including visible light. They have no mass and travel at the speed of light.
When photons from the sun reach the Earth's atmosphere, they can be absorbed, scattered, or reflected by particles in the solar wind. This interaction can create phenomena such as the aurora borealis.
The solar wind is a stream of charged particles, mainly protons and electrons, that are constantly emitted from the sun. It travels at high speeds and can interact with the Earth's magnetic field.
The solar wind can cause disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field, leading to auroras and other geomagnetic storms. It can also affect satellite communications and power grids on Earth.
Plasma is a state of matter that is created when gas is heated to extremely high temperatures, causing the atoms to break apart into charged particles. The solar wind is made up of plasma, and its interactions with the Earth's magnetic field can create complex and dynamic phenomena in our atmosphere.