Solar wind

Solar wind, gases in the Sun's corona that escape from its gravitational field. Made of electrically charged particles, particularly ions, and expanding under the high temperatures of the corona, about 4,000,000°F (2,200,000°C), the solar wind accelerates to a velocity of about 310 m/s (500 km/s), a speed that allows escape from the solar gravitational field. The solar wind causes deflection of the tail of Earth's magnetosphere and comet's tails away from the sun. A shock wave results when the solar wind encounters the Earth's magnetic field. The portions of the solar wind that do not encounter either the Earth or other obstacles continue to travel at supersonic velocities until they eventually lose their supersonic characteristics and pour out into galactic space.