What are the effects of solar storms?

Definition of technical terms of solar wind

English name: solar wind English name: definition of solar wind 1: ionized airflow continuously released by the sun to the solar system with high speed and unstable intensity. When the airflow passes near the earth, it will interact with the earth's magnetic field and produce various effects in the upper atmosphere. Discipline: atmospheric science (first-class discipline); Definition 2 of atmospheric physics (two disciplines): The corona expands at high temperature and continuously throws plasma into interplanetary space. Discipline: astronomy (first-class discipline); Sun (double subject)

This content is approved and published by the National Committee for the Examination and Approval of Scientific and Technical Terminology.

Solar storm solar wind is a supersonic plasma charged particle stream emitted from the upper atmosphere of stars. When it is not the sun, this flow of charged particles is usually called "stellar wind". Solar wind is a continuous plasma flow from the sun, which moves at a speed of 200-800 km/s. Although this substance is different from the air on the earth, it is not composed of gas molecules, but of simpler elementary particles, such as protons and electrons, which are one level smaller than atoms, but the effect they produce when flowing is very similar to that of air flow, so it is called solar wind. Astronomical observatories around the world have observed severe solar storms on the surface of the sun. Scientists predict that the solar wind carrying a large number of charged particles will reach the earth on August 3, 20 10, producing a strong aurora phenomenon at the poles.

brief introduction

Compared with the density of the wind on the earth, the density of the solar storm solar wind is very, very thin and insignificant. Generally speaking, there are several to dozens of particles per cubic centimeter in interplanetary space near the earth. The density of wind on the earth is 268.7 billion molecules per cubic centimeter. Although the solar wind is thin, it blows more violently than the wind on the earth. On the earth, the wind speed of typhoon 12 is more than 32.5 meters per second, while the wind speed of solar wind is often kept at 350 ~ 450 kilometers per second near the earth, which is tens of thousands of times the wind speed of the earth, and can reach more than 800 kilometers per second at the most violent time. The solar wind is constantly ejected into the stream of material particles in space from the outermost corona of the solar atmosphere. This particle stream is ejected from the coronal hole, and its main components are hydrogen particles and helium particles. There are two kinds of solar wind: one is continuous radiation, which is called "continuous solar wind" because of its low speed and low particle content; The other is radiation when the sun is active, which is fast and has high particle content. This solar wind is called "disturbed solar wind". The disturbed solar wind has a great influence on the earth. When it reaches the earth, it often causes huge magnetic storms and strong auroras, and also produces ionospheric disturbances. The existence of solar wind provides convenience for us to study the sun and the relationship between the sun and the earth. The solar wind makes the comet form a long tail and extend in the direction opposite to the sun. People can imagine the existence of the solar wind when enjoying the beautiful tail. The colorful aurora phenomenon seen in the high latitudes of the earth is also caused by the accelerated settlement of solar wind particles into the earth's magnetic field and into the earth's atmosphere. The direct observation of spacecraft shows that the solar wind is mainly composed of protons and electrons, but there are also a few helium nuclei and a few heavy ions. It is speculated that outside about 100 astronomical unit (astronomical unit = average distance between the sun and the earth = 1.5× 108 km), the solar wind will interface with interstellar gas originating from the Milky Way, and the space occupied by the solar wind is called heliosphere. Studying the physical process and laws of solar wind has become a new branch of space physics-heliospheric physics.

find

Solar wind solar storm refers to the violent explosion of the sun at the peak of sunspot activity. The high-speed particle flow formed by the release of a large number of charged particles during the explosion seriously affects the earth's space environment, destroys the ozone layer, interferes with wireless communication, and is also harmful to human health. The sun will produce solar storms at the peak of sunspot activity. Discovered by American Mariner 2 probe in 1962. It is a high-speed particle flow formed by increasing solar energy and releasing a large number of charged particles into the vast space. Scientists compare this phenomenon to the "sneeze" of the sun. Because the air mass in the solar wind is mainly charged plasma, it will break into space at the speed of10.5 thousand to 3 million kilometers per hour, which will have a great impact on the space environment of the earth. When the solar storm breaks out, it will affect communication, threaten satellites, destroy the ozone layer and have a certain impact on human health. 1850, a British astronomer named carrington observed sunspots and found a small flash on the surface of the sun, which lasted about 5 minutes. Carrington thought he happened to see a big meteorite fall on the sun. In the 1920s, there were more complicated instruments to study the sun. People find that this kind of "sunshine" is a common thing, and its appearance is often related to sunspots. For example, in 1899, American astronomer Hall invented the "solar spectrograph", which can be used to observe the light of a certain wavelength emitted by the sun. In this way, people can take photos of the sun with the help of the light of hydrogen, calcium and other elements in the solar atmosphere. It turns out that the sun's flash has nothing to do with any meteorite, but a brief explosion of hot hydrogen. Small flash is a very common thing. In places with dense sunspots, as many as 100 times a day can be observed, especially when sunspots "grow". Huge flashes like those seen by Carrington are rare and only happen a few times a year. Sometimes, the flash happens right in the center of the sun's surface, so it explodes in the direction of the earth. After such an explosion, strange things will appear again and again on the earth. For several days, the aurora will be very strong, sometimes even in temperate regions. The hands of the compass will also be restless and swing wildly, so this effect is sometimes called "magnetic storm". With the progress of science and technology, the mystery of aurora is more and more known to us. It turns out that this beautiful scenery is the work of cooperation between the sun and the atmosphere. Among the forms of energy created by the sun, such as light and heat, one is called "solar wind". The solar wind is charged particles ejected by the sun, and it is a powerful stream of charged subatomic particles, which can cover the earth. The solar wind flows around the earth over the earth and hits the earth's magnetic field at a speed of about 400 kilometers per second. The earth's magnetic field is shaped like a funnel, with its tip facing the north and south poles of the earth, so charged particles emitted by the sun settle along the "funnel" of the earth's magnetic field and enter the polar regions of the earth. The upper atmosphere of the poles, bombarded by the solar wind, will glow and form aurora. What is formed in the Antarctic region is called Antarctic light. What is formed in the North Pole is called the Northern Lights. Before this century, this situation had no influence on mankind. But in the 20th century, it was found that magnetic storms would affect radio reception, and all kinds of electronic equipment would also be affected. As humans become more and more dependent on these devices, magnetic storms become more and more important. For example, during a magnetic storm, radio and television transmission will be interrupted and radar will not work. Solar storm is a high-speed particle stream formed by a large number of charged particle streams released into space by the sun due to the increase of energy. Because the air mass in the solar storm is mainly charged plasma, and it breaks into space at the speed of10.5 thousand to 3 million kilometers per hour, it will have a great impact on the space environment of the earth. When the solar storm breaks out, it will affect communication, threaten satellites and destroy the ozone layer. Scientists vividly compare the solar storm to the sun sneezing. The activity of the sun is very important to the earth, so when the sun sneezes, the earth often has a high fever. Solar storms occur every 1 1 year with the sunspot activity cycle. Since last year, sunspots have entered a peak period, and sunspots have entered an active period, which will continue until this summer. It is reported that a solar storm in the 1970s led to the intensification of atmospheric activities, which increased the flight resistance of the "Salute" space station belonging to the Soviet Union at that time, thus making it out of its original orbit. During the period of 1989, the solar storm damaged the power supply systems in Quebec, Canada and New Jersey, USA, resulting in losses of more than10 billion US dollars. Solar storms caused by sunspot activities are also a big test for commercial satellites. At present, scientists all over the world are actively studying solar storms, but we still need to make unremitting research on the specific effects of solar violence, sunspot outbreaks and solar storms on the earth and how to prevent them. Astronomers studied the sun's flash more carefully and found that hot hydrogen was obviously thrown far away in these bursts, some of which would overcome the great gravity of the sun and shoot into space. The nucleus of hydrogen is proton, so there are proton clouds around the sun (and a few complicated nuclei). 1958, American physicist Parker called this outward proton cloud "solar wind". When protons flying to the earth reach the earth, most of them will be pushed away by the earth's own magnetic field. However, some will enter the atmosphere, causing aurora and various electrical phenomena. An abnormal explosion when a powerful proton cloud hits the earth will produce a phenomenon that can be called "solar storm". At this time, the magnetic storm effect will appear. It is also the solar wind that makes comets have tails. When a comet approaches the sun, the dust and gas around the star will be blown back by the solar wind. This effect has also been confirmed on satellites. A large and light satellite like Echo 1 will be blown off the pre-calculated orbit by the solar wind. According to the latest report, when observing the weather in the universe, NASA found that the sun will wake up again in 20 13 and a solar storm will break out. If all this comes true, the economic losses suffered by human beings are estimated to be 20 times that of Hurricane Katrina (Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in 2005, causing losses of $654.38+025 billion.

Basic attribute

In the solar system, the composition of the solar wind is exactly the same as that of the solar corona. 73% is hydrogen, 25% is helium and other trace impurities. At present, there is no accurate measurement result. The sampling analysis of Genesis in 2004 is still inconclusive. It was damaged by crash landing when it returned to Earth. This is because it did not open its parachute when it re-entered the earth's atmosphere. Near the earth, the speed of solar wind is 200-889 km/s. The average value is 450 km/s. About 800 kg/s of matter escapes from the sun in the form of solar wind. This is very small compared with the equivalent mass of solar rays. If the energy of sunlight is converted into mass, the sun loses about 4.5 TG (4.5×10.9 kg) per second. Because the solar wind is-(zh-hant: plasma; Zh-hans: plasma), so the solar magnetic field is carried by it. As high as160gm (100,000,000 miles), the solar magnetic field is pulled into a spiral shape by the solar wind due to the rotation of the sun. Beyond this distance, the influence of the sun on the solar wind is weakened. Usually, the energy burst of the solar wind comes from solar flares or other climatic phenomena called "solar storms". These solar activities can be detected by space probes and satellites, and the main sign is strong radiation. Solar wind particles captured by the earth's magnetic field are stored in the Vannarun radiation belt. When these particles interact with the earth's atmosphere near the magnetic pole, the aurora phenomenon is produced. Other planets with magnetic fields similar to the earth's also have auroras. In interstellar medium (mainly thin hydrogen and helium), the solar wind seems to blow out a "big bubble". The place where the solar wind can't continue to push the interstellar medium is called the zenith, which is usually considered as the outer boundary of the solar system. How far this boundary is from the sun has no definite result, and it may change according to the intensity of the solar wind and the density of the local interstellar medium. It is generally believed that it is far beyond Pluto's orbit.

cause

In order to clearly express how the solar wind is formed, it is first necessary to understand the stratification of the solar atmosphere. The solar wind can stimulate the earth to produce auroras at high latitudes. Generally speaking, we divide the solar atmosphere into six layers, which are named from inside to outside: solar nucleus, radiation belt, troposphere, photosphere, chromosphere and corona layer. The radius of the solar core accounts for about a quarter of the radius of the sun, which concentrates most of the mass of the sun and is where more than 99% of the energy of the sun occurs. The photosphere is the bright round surface of the sun that we usually see, and all the visible light of the sun is emitted by the photosphere. The corona is located in the outermost layer of the sun and belongs to the outer atmosphere of the sun. It is here that the solar wind is formed and emitted. In the corona photos taken by X-rays or extreme ultraviolet rays, it can be observed that there are large strips or irregular dark areas in the corona. Through the photos taken by satellites and space probes, we can find that these large dark areas have existed in the corona for a long time. The X-ray intensity here is much lower than other areas, and it looks like some holes in the corona, which is called coronal holes in our image. Coronal hole is an open area of solar magnetic field, where the magnetic field lines spread into space, and a large number of plasma ran out along the magnetic field lines, forming a high-speed particle flow. The velocity of particle flow at the bottom of the coronal hole is about 16km per second, and it can reach more than 300~400km per second when it reaches the earth orbit. This high-speed plasma flow is what we call the solar wind. After the solar wind broke out from the coronal hole, it was wrapped in the solar magnetic field and quickly blew around. Now we know that the solar wind can at least blow all over the solar system. When the solar wind reaches the vicinity of the earth, it interacts with the dipole magnetic field of the earth, blowing back the magnetic lines of the earth's magnetic field. However, the magnetic pressure of the geomagnetic field hinders the movement of the plasma, making it impossible for the solar wind to invade the earth's atmosphere and continue to move around the geomagnetic field. So a cavity is formed, and the geomagnetic field is contained in this cavity. The geomagnetic field looks like an egg with a big head and a small head at this time. However, when the sun has a sudden violent activity, the situation will change. At this time, the high-energy ions in the solar wind will increase, and these high-energy ions can invade the polar regions of the earth along the magnetic field lines; And discharge in the upper atmosphere of the earth's poles, producing gorgeous and spectacular aurora. The solar wind constitutes the outer space environment for human activities. The disturbance of the solar atmosphere is transmitted to the earth through the solar wind, and through the interaction with the earth's magnetic field, it sometimes causes a series of events that affect human activities. For example, communication satellites fail, power grids fail in high latitudes, and the quality of short-wave communication and long-wave navigation declines. Changes in the solar wind may also cause changes in meteorology and climate. As mankind will further utilize the outer space environment of the earth in the 2 1 century, space environment forecast (or "space weather" forecast) will be very important. Understanding the origin of solar wind and its heating acceleration mechanism is of great significance for establishing an effective space weather forecasting system. In the universe, many stars and even many galaxies will emit their own "winds", which will cause material loss and affect the surrounding interstellar space or intergalactic space. The solar wind is the only stellar wind that can be directly observed. The study on the origin and acceleration mechanism of solar wind is bound to have a vital impact on understanding this universal "wind" phenomenon-cosmic plasma.

morphospecies,form species

People can often see the word "solar wind" in science fiction or scientific articles. However, the solar wind is only an image. This wind is not another wind, and it is completely different from the wind formed by the airflow on our earth. Simply put, the solar wind refers to the flow of material particles continuously ejected into space from the outermost corona of the solar atmosphere. The name of the solar wind is also related to comets. When people found through advanced observation that the closer a comet is to the sun, the more obvious its coma is, the longer its tail is, and the direction of its tail is always facing away from the sun, they began to speculate that maybe the sun will emit something similar to the wind, which will have an impact on the comet. After 1958, the particle detector on the American satellite detected a particle flow from the solar coronal hole, so American scientist Parker named its image the solar wind. There are two kinds of solar wind, one is the so-called "continuous solar wind" or "quiet solar wind", that is, the solar wind with relatively small jet speed and small particle content. This solar wind rises from the calm corona area. At first, the coronal mass expanded at a low speed and gradually left the surface of the sun. With the increase of the distance from the sun, the expansion speed increases and the density decreases. When it reaches the earth, the jet speed is generally about 450 kilometers per second, and the number of protons per cubic centimeter usually does not exceed 10. This solar wind usually has little effect on the earth. The other is the "disturbed solar wind", that is, the particle flow ejected during the solar activity. This solar wind is related to solar ejection events or explosions, and sometimes accompanied by a large increase in high-energy charged particles. Its jet speed can generally reach 1000-2000 km per second, and its particle density is relatively large, with dozens of protons per cubic centimeter. Disturbed solar wind can cause obvious interference to the earth because of its high speed and high particle content. This is because the particles contained in the solar wind are mainly hydrogen particles and helium particles. When they reach the earth's ionosphere, they will disturb the earth's magnetic field, thus affecting the earth's communication. For example, the solar wind will cause short circuit of artificial earth satellites, which will cause obstacles to global satellite communication and even interrupt communication. For the flight of aircraft and satellites, this kind of communication failure sometimes has disastrous consequences. The plane lost ground navigation, just like being blind; When a satellite loses ground communication, it may lose its way or even get out of Earth orbit.

A brief history of observation

In the 1920s, there were more complicated instruments to study the sun. People find that this kind of "sunshine" is a common thing, and its appearance is often related to sunspots. For example, in 1899, American astronomer Hall invented the "solar spectrograph", which can be used to observe the light of a certain wavelength emitted by the sun. In this way, people can take photos of the sun with the help of the light of hydrogen, calcium and other elements in the solar atmosphere. It turns out that the sun's flash has nothing to do with any meteorite, but a brief explosion of hot hydrogen. Small flashes of the first solar storm sent back by NASA are very common. In places with dense sunspots, as many as 100 times a day can be observed, especially when sunspots "grow". Huge flashes like those seen by Carrington are rare and only happen a few times a year. Sometimes, the flash happens right in the center of the sun's surface, so it explodes in the direction of the earth. After such an explosion, strange things will appear again and again on the earth. For several days, the aurora will be very strong, sometimes even in temperate regions. The hands of the compass will also be restless and swing wildly, so this effect is sometimes called "magnetic storm". With the progress of science and technology, the mystery of aurora is more and more known to us. It turns out that this beautiful scenery is the work of cooperation between the sun and the atmosphere. Among the various forms of energy created by the sun, such as light and heat, one kind of energy is called "solar wind". The solar wind is charged particles ejected by the sun, and it is a powerful stream of charged subatomic particles, which can cover the earth. The solar wind flows around the earth over the earth and hits the earth's magnetic field at a speed of about 400 kilometers per second. The earth's magnetic field is shaped like a funnel, with its tip facing the north and south poles of the earth, so charged particles emitted by the sun settle along the "funnel" of the earth's magnetic field and enter the polar regions of the earth. The upper atmosphere of the poles, bombarded by the solar wind, will glow and form aurora. What is formed in the Antarctic region is called Antarctic light. What is formed in the North Pole is called the Northern Lights. Before this century, this situation had no influence on mankind. But in the 20th century, it was found that magnetic storms would affect radio reception, and all kinds of electronic equipment would also be affected. As humans become more and more dependent on these devices, magnetic storms become more and more important. During solar storms, such as magnetic storms, radio and television transmission will be interrupted and radar will not work. Astronomers studied the sun's flash more carefully and found that hot hydrogen was obviously thrown far away in these bursts, some of which would overcome the great gravity of the sun and shoot into space. The nucleus of hydrogen is proton, so there are proton clouds around the sun (and a few complicated nuclei). 1958, American physicist Parker called this outward proton cloud "solar wind". When protons flying to the earth reach the earth, most of them will be pushed away by the earth's own magnetic field. However, some will enter the atmosphere, causing aurora and various electrical phenomena. An abnormal explosion when a powerful proton cloud hits the earth will produce a phenomenon that can be called "solar storm". At this time, the magnetic storm effect will appear. It is also the solar wind that makes comets have tails. When a comet approaches the sun, the dust and gas around the star will be blown back by the solar wind. This effect has also been confirmed on satellites. A large and light satellite like Echo 1 will be blown off the pre-calculated orbit by the solar wind.

The source of enlightenment

According to NASA's space network, astronomers have recently discovered the missing starting point of one of the two solar winds. The solar wind is a series of charged particle streams that the sun often emits in all directions. These particles reach the earth from the sun within 10 days. When the solar wind turns into a storm, they combine with the earth's magnetic field to produce a beautiful aurora dance in the polar sky. The solar wind from the equatorial region of the sun comes from the edge of the bright region in the solar atmosphere. When the magnetic fields of two bright areas combine, the solar wind will be generated. Last week, scientists presented the research results at the National Astronomical Conference of the Royal Astronomical Society in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Louis Hara of University College London, who led the research, said: "It's great to finally find the origin of the solar wind. Scientists have been arguing about this issue for many years, and now we have finally found the final result. " The radiation emitted by the sun with the solar wind is pure energy, and the solar wind quickly transfers matter away. The magnetic field of the sun provides acceleration for the particles of the solar wind, and the structure of this magnetic field will affect the speed at which the solar wind rushes into space. Astronomers can distinguish two kinds of solar winds according to their speed. It is reported that the faster solar wind rises from the coronal hole near the solar pole, and its running speed can reach about 6.5438+0.8 million mph (2.9 million km/h). The slower solar wind comes from the equatorial region of the sun, and its speed can reach about 432,000 miles to 65,438+065,438+million miles (720,000 kilometers to 654,388+08,000 kilometers per hour). The reason why the faster solar wind runs so fast is that the magnetic fields from the poles tend to spread in all directions, which means that they will not gather on the surface of the sun. Therefore, "all gases can fly out quickly, and nothing can stop them," Harra said. On the other hand, there is both a closed magnetic field and an extended magnetic field on the equator, and the closed magnetic field urges the solar plasma to return to the surface of the sun. Only when the magnetic field is unfolded can the solar wind fly into space from this area. Harry told NASA's space network that the speed of the solar wind from the equatorial region will be slower and "very, very stable". Harry and her colleagues used the Sunrise Space Observatory to discover for the first time that hot gas erupts at high speed from the edge of the bright area of the sun (the active area formed near the equator when the magnetic fields from the two places converge). Sunrise Observatory witnessed this convergence, and observed the process of connecting and unfolding magnetic lines from a huge active area and a "baby" area. Harry said: "We now know that the magnetic field lines can be expanded by combining smaller areas." He said that even if these areas are 500,000 kilometers apart (this distance is equivalent to the sum of the diameters of 40 earths), they can be connected with each other. If two areas are to be connected together, the magnetic field lines in these areas must be in the right direction and the intensity should be moderate. Hala said that the larger region "must find partners to interact with." Understanding the solar wind and its formation will help scientists to better predict how it will affect the earth and help protect satellites around the sun.

Related influence

Although the solar wind is fierce, it will not blow to the earth. This is because the earth has its own umbrella-the earth's magnetic field. The geomagnetic field of the solar storm shields the sun from the earth. However, there will still be a few molecules escaping from the net, although only a few; But it will still bring a series of harm to the earth. It will interfere with the earth's magnetic field and make the intensity of the earth's magnetic field change obviously; It will also affect the upper atmosphere of the earth, destroy the structure of the ionosphere of the earth, make it lose the ability to reflect radio waves, and cause the interruption of our radio communication; It will also affect the chemical changes of the ozone layer in the atmosphere, and transmit it layer by layer until it reaches the earth's surface, causing abnormal changes in the earth's climate, and even further affecting the earth's crust, triggering volcanic eruptions and earthquakes. For example, on July 1959 and 15, people observed that the sun suddenly emitted a huge flame (this is the wind source of the solar wind). A few days later, on July 2 1 day, when this violent solar wind hit the earth's adjacent space, the earth's rotation speed suddenly slowed down by 0.85 milliseconds, and many earthquakes occurred around the world that day; At the same time, the geomagnetic field was violently disturbed by the so-called "magnetic storm", and global communication was suddenly interrupted, making some planes and ships that rely on compasses and radio navigation suddenly become "blind" and "deaf". The influence of the solar wind on the earth is only the work of molecules that escape from the net. This shows how powerful the solar wind is in the barrier-free interstellar space. Where the solar wind meets the interstellar matter outside, a shock wave will be generated. The "Voyager 1" probe launched by 1977 is said to have encountered such a shock wave in 2003. That shock wave is about 65.438+0.28 billion kilometers from the sun ~ 65.438+0.8 billion kilometers. The influence of solar wind on human beings: 1. When the solar wind passes over the earth, it will change the electromagnetic field, cause geomagnetic storms and ionospheric storms, and affect communication, especially short-wave communication. 2. Send powerful elements (original? ) charges, affecting the safety of power transmission and oil and gas pipeline systems. 3. It will also have an impact on satellites in operation. 4. The radiation of solar wind can easily reach one person's X-ray examination. It will also cause the decline of human immunity, easily cause pathological changes, make people's emotions fluctuate easily, and even increase car accidents. It will raise the temperature. 6. Aurora is formed in the North Pole and the South Pole.

scientific research

A house whose windows are blown open by the wind can resist the attack of storms as a whole, but the strong wind that breaks through the window will blow the house into a mess. The latest research shows that the earth's magnetic field is like a house prone to "rain leakage" in front of the solar wind, and its "rain leakage" will last for several hours, providing an opportunity for charged particles from the sun to enter the earth's atmosphere and disrupt communication and power systems. Solar Storm In the latest issue of the British journal Nature, researchers at the University of California, Berkeley published this research result. The researchers said that the new results will help to better predict the possible impact of bad "space weather" such as solar storms on the earth. From time to time, the sun blows out a solar wind composed of charged particles. If the solar activity becomes violent, so will the solar wind. The earth itself has a magnetic field extending tens of thousands of kilometers into space, which can form a protective barrier against the solar wind. However, this obstacle is not without defects. As early as 196 1 year, Dr. Deng Gai of Imperial College London, London, England predicted that when the direction of the magnetic field contained in the solar wind is partially opposite to that of the earth's magnetic field, the process of "magnetic reconnection" between the two magnetic fields will lead to a gap in the earth's magnetic field protection barrier, so that charged particles of the solar wind can take advantage of it. Other scientists later confirmed the existence of this gap, but scientists have been unclear whether this gap in the earth's magnetic field is intermittent or will remain open for a long time. Frey of the University of California, Berkeley, said that he and his colleagues found for the first time that the gap in the earth's magnetic field would open for several hours with the help of NASA's image detector and the observation data of satellites belonging to the European and American "cluster" project. According to their calculations, on the boundary of the Earth's magnetic field barrier, which is about 60,000 kilometers away from the Earth's surface, the gap area may reach twice the earth's area, and the solar wind thus entering will eventually produce a proton aurora equivalent to the size of California in the ionosphere above the North Pole.

Scientific significance

The discovery of solar wind is one of the important discoveries in space exploration in the 20th century. After nearly 40 years of research, the physical properties of the solar wind have been basically understood, but people still don't know how the solar wind originated and how to accelerate. How to obtain plasma and energy supply for solar wind is a basic problem that has not been solved in the field of space physics after long-term research.

The latest solar wind

Observatories around the world have recently observed a violent solar storm on the surface of the sun. Scientists predict that the solar wind carrying a large number of charged particles will reach the earth on August 3, producing a strong aurora phenomenon at the poles. Solar Storm It is reported that astronomers all over the world witnessed a violent solar flare last weekend, with sunspots as big as the earth. This eruption then triggered a larger solar storm on the surface of the sun, spraying a large number of charged particles to the earth hundreds of millions of kilometers away, forming a strong solar wind. Scientists of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration predict that the charged particle stream generated by the solar storm will "hit" the earth on August 3, impacting the earth's magnetic field, and at the same time producing strong auroras at the poles of the earth, which will be a very spectacular sight. However, experts warn that if the solar storm is too severe, it will destroy the earth's satellites and lead to the interruption of large-scale power and communication systems around the world. In June this year, scientists predicted that the solar storm would hit the earth in 20 13, when the sun would wake up from its "deep sleep", and the unprecedented violent flare explosion on the surface of the sun would bring unpredictable magnetic storm disaster to the earth.