Solar Wind

Solar Wind

A solar storm could be formed due to a giant hole that is 20 times larger than the size of the Earth. On March 30, 2023, a news item was published. So what do these scientists mean by solar storm, or coronal ejection ? Is it seriously dangerous? Let's have some ideas regarding it.

Solar Winds:

The outermost layer of the star's atmosphere is the corona. The sun's outermost part extends over millions of kilometers in outer space. When can we actually see the corona of the Sun? We can see them during a total solar eclipse. But why only during a total solar eclipse? During the time of a solar eclipse, the moon completely blocks the sun's light coming from the Sun's surfaces, making it visible for us to see the white corona of the Sun. Corona is comparatively much hotter than the surface of the Sun, but still, it's not as bright as the Sun's surface. We should also know that the sun is a giant magnetic ball, because of which the charged particles in the corona get affected and form loops or streamers. These solar winds are the ejection of charged particles and magnetic clouds from the surface of the sun into the other planets of the Solar System.

Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash

Effect of Solar Wind on Earth:

When the solar winds are directed towards the earth, they are mostly deflected by the earth's magnetic field. Solar wind can create geomagnetic storms that can affect telecommunication signals from satellite to television or mobile phones. Geomagnetic storms are a temporary disturbance of the earth's magnetic field, mostly caused by solar winds. The aurora effect, which you must have heard, is also due to this effect of Solar storms on the earth's magnetic field. As already discussed, the coronal mass ejection will dissipate energy and charged particles towards us. These charged particles may sometime enter the earth's magnetic field through the poles, where the field strength is less. These can interact with the atmospheric gases like oxygen and nitrogen to excite them and cause the beautiful layers of color in the night sky.

Black lines: Magnetic field 
Red lines: Solar winds
Green circles: Aurora

This Aurora effect is not only limited to our planet; it can actually be observed on other planets like Jupiter and Saturn. What colors do we usually see on Earth? The colors we observe on earth are mainly due to the collision of ions from the solar wind with oxygen and nitrogen atoms. The collision, depending on the type of atom and the altitude, produces different colors. Oxygen produces vivid green and also brownish red, whereas nitrogen emits some bluish light. Now it's time for you to think about whether it's possible for a person on the moon to see the aurora. By the end of the post, you will have an answer to many of the questions you had in mind.

Credits: NASA