The Solar Wind is a phenomenon characterized by the emission of gas composed of a series of particles endowed with an electrical charge, mainly from the nuclei of hydrogen atoms with a high energy charge that can reach 100 keV, although they also include nuclei of helium atoms as well as electrons. These ions originate in the solar corona, a surface that can reach about two million degrees Celsius, at points where the magnetic field is weak.
This astronomical phenomenon occurs in the form of cycles known as the solar activity cycle that lasts approximately eleven years and is regulated by the sun's magnetic fields, in which periods of great solar activity alternate with others in which both their frequency and intensity decrease.
The particles that make up the solar wind are capable of traveling through space at speeds of 450 kilometers per second, which can reach the earth in a period of 3 to 5 days. This wind is transmitted in space as an expansive wave that can reach the surface of the different planets and spread beyond the limits of our solar system, taking with it the solar magnetic field as well as a significant amount of matter from its surface. The total area of space that can be reached by the solar wind is called the heliosphere and is estimated to reach far beyond the planet Pluto, the last planet in our solar system.
In the case of the earth, the earth's atmosphere is capable of stopping the particles of the solar wind, thus giving rise to phenomena such as Aurora borealis in the northern hemisphere and southern in the southern hemisphere. This is due to the collision of the particles that make up the solar wind with the magnetic field of the earth's poles, being trapped in it and passing to a part of the atmosphere known as the ionosphere where contact with the gases that make it up gives rise to the emission of light that characterizes the auroras.
The solar wind has a direct effect on the Earth's magnetic field, being capable of giving rise to phenomena such as the magnetic storm, a fact that can cause interference with radio communications, as well as affect the normal operation of equipment such as satellites located on the Earth orbit.
These solar emissions are capable of reducing the atmosphere of planets that have a low magnetic field, also called the magnetosphere, completely eliminating it. The most characteristic example of this phenomenon is Mercury, the planet closest to the sun that receives the greatest impact from solar winds, our moon also lacks a magnetic field and therefore an atmosphere.
