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Is there any wind in space?
Larry F.
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There actually is wind in outer space, it's called the solar wind. Solar wind is made up of tiny fast moving particles which are ejected from the sun! The solar wind moves very fast but does vary from time to time. It has an average velocity of 400 km/second. 1 km/second is roughly 2237 mph! So then, if we do a conversion then the solar wind is moving around 894,000 mph!! That's fast!
Inside the solar wind are particles. Protons, Electrons and other atoms. The wind is also responsible for the tails that you see on comets. The solar wind can change speeds as the sun completes its 27 day rotation. The particles are ejected from coronal holes around the sun. When there are intense eruptions on these holes we can have magnetic activity here interrupted. When this happens, you can see more vivid Auroras and there's some speculation whether it interrupts some telecommunications.
Just like wind on earth which is created by pressure differences, that is also part of the reason there is a solar wind. There's a huge pressure difference beteween the earth and the sun.
You can read more about the solar wind and a really cool discovery by NASA in February which talks about temperature differences on the sun!
Answered by KSL Meteorologist Dina Freedman.
