Origins of solar wind revealed
The origins of the constant flow of charged particles from the Sun, known as the solar wind, and the details of the transition from defined rays in the Sun's upper atmosphere to the solar wind have been a mystery ever since the discovery of solar wind in 1950s. Now, a new study conducted by scientists using NASA's Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) reveals images of the edge of the Sun and describes that transition, where the solar wind starts. We now have a global picture of solar wind evolution, said Nicholeen Viall, a co-author of the paper published this week in The Astrophysical Journal and a solar scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. “This is really going to change our understanding of how the space environment develops.” Both near Earth and far past Pluto, our space environment is dominated by activity on the Sun. The Sun and its atmosphere are made of plasma – a mix of positively and negatively charged particles which have separated at extreme...