| Parameter | Mean Value | 5-95% Range |
|---|
| Speed (km/s) | 468 | 320 - 710 |
| density (protons/cc) | 8.7 | 3.2 - 20 |
| Alfvenic Mach No. | 10.7 | 4.4 - 20 |
| Sonic Mach No. | 7.7 | 5.6 - 10 |
| |B| (nano-Tesla) | 6.6 | 2.2 - 9.9 |
| Proton Temperature (K) | 120,000 | 10,000 - 300,000 |
| Electron Temperature (K) | 140,000 | 90,000 - 200,000 |
| Alfven Speed (km/s) | 50 | 30 - 100 |
| Sound Speed (km/s) | 63 | 41 - 91 |
|
Other interesting facts about the solar wind:
- Consists dominantly of protons and electrons in equal numbers with a small (~5%) amount of ionized Helium and an even smaller percentage of heavier ions.
- The average solar wind takes about 4 days to travel between the corona and the Earth.
- Most of the energy transported by the solar wind is in the form of kinetic energy. The solar wind carries 1.7E27 ergs/s of kinetic energy on the average through a sphere at 1 au. (Compare this to 0.05E27 ergs/s of thermal energy and 0.025E27 ergs/s of magnetic energy.)
|
