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SOLAR WIND
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A stream of protons moving radially from the sun
Classified under:
Nouns denoting natural phenomena
Hypernyms ("solar wind" is a kind of...):
solar radiation (radiation from the sun)
Meronyms (substance of "solar wind"):
interplanetary gas (a rarefied flow of gas and charged particles (plasma) that stream from the sun and form the solar wind)
Holonyms ("solar wind" is a part of...):
interplanetary medium (interplanetary space including forms of energy and gas and dust)
Context examples:
In the 1950s, scientists figured out that a solar wind blows from the sun to the edges of the solar system.
(Newest solar telescope produces first images, National Science Foundation)
The New Horizons Particles and Plasma team has discovered a region of cold, dense ionized gas tens of thousands of miles beyond Pluto — the planet’s atmosphere being stripped away by the solar wind and lost to space.
(New Horizons Discovers Frozen Plains in the Heart of Pluto’s ‘Heart’, NASA)
It turns out this whip-like process also naturally generates Alfvén waves, a strong kind of magnetic wave scientists suspect is key to heating the sun’s atmosphere and propelling the solar wind, which constantly bathes our solar system and planet with charged particles from the sun.
(Scientists Uncover Origins of the Sun’s Swirling Spicules, NASA)
This includes not only the charged particles within the solar wind but also the particles thrown into space by its orbiting moon Io, known for its numerous and large volcanoes.
(Hubble Captures Vivid Auroras in Jupiter’s Atmosphere, NASA)
Perhaps the magnetic field shields the surface from weathering by the solar wind.
(NASA Research Gives New Insights into How the Moon Got 'Inked', NASA)
"These hot flow anomalies are made of very hot solar wind deflected off the bow shock."
(Messenger spots giant space weather effects at Mercury, NASA)
Typically, magnetospheres are shaped by the pressure of supersonic solar wind particles flowing past them.
(Fresh Results from NASA’s Galileo Spacecraft 20 Years On, NASA)
"Charge exchange": Basically, it happens when the electrically-charged solar wind comes into contact with a neutral gas.
(Evidence for supernovas near Earth, NASA)
When the solar wind strikes the day side of Phobos, the plasma is absorbed by the surface.
(Solar Eruptions Could Electrify Martian Moons, NASA)
Magnetospheres are the result of a collision between a planet's intrinsic magnetic field and the supersonic solar wind.
(Juno Peers Inside a Giant, NASA)
