04 Center of the System/The Solar Wind 3
What is a Coronal Mass Ejection exactly?
A CME is a massive burst of solar wind and magnetic fields.
Compare the speed of typical solar wind to the speed of a CME.
The CME is much faster. Instead of 2-4 days, CMEs can get here in less than 24 hours.
What term is used to describe the part of the solar cycle that most likely correspond to more solar activity/solar wind?
solar max(imum)
How much matter does the sun send into space via the solar wind?
About 1 million tons of matter per second.
What makes up the solar wind?
Is made of protons electrons, and alpha particles
What protects Earthlings from the solar wind?
It Is mostly blocked by our magnetosphere.
Describe the length of a solar cycle.
It lasts about 11 years from min to max, then repeats.
Compare the average number of CMEs during solar maximum and minimum.
Near solar maximum the Sun produces about 3 CMEs, near solar minimum there is about 1 CME every five days (11 year cycle).
Iron and nickle within the earth are very important for protection. Why?
The earth is a giant magnet due to nickel iron core and outer fluid magma. This magnet is what created the magnetosphere!
What phenomenon seen nightly near the poles, is caused by the solar wind?
The northern and southern lights
What is the solar wind in general?
The solar wind is MATTER being blasted from the sun.
How does the solar wind cause the Northern and Southern Lights?
The solar winds are caught in the magnetic lines of force and are carried to the poles Here they enter the atmosphere and cause the northern and southern lights by hitting the nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere and making them light up.
What do all particle in the solar wind have in common?
They are all charged particles.
