Solar wind

The solar wind is a plasma of electrons, protons, and alpha particles that boils off the solar corona and propagates – due to the Sun’s magnetic field – radially from the Sun at an average velocity of 400 km s^-1.The solar wind carries with it a relatively strong and convoluted magnetic field that affects the fluence of galactic cosmic radiation. The solar wind is responsible for the aurora in the Arctic (aurora borealis) and the Antarctic (aurora australis). (ICRP Publication 132, 2016)

ICRP Glossary entry - May 2019

Previous Description

Mainly low-energy electrons and protons emitted continuously from the Sun into the heliosphere and producing the interplanetary magnetic field. The intensity of the solar wind depends on solar activity, and varies with the solar cycle. (From ICRP Publication 123, 2013)

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