Space Wind Really Does Exist
By Shaunacy Ferro, popsci.com
We detect a plasmaspheric breeze.
More than 20 years ago, researchers proĀposed the exisĀtence of a space wind--a steady flow of charged particles--inside the Earth's magĀneĀtosĀphere, the region of space govĀerned by our magĀnetĀic field. Afterā¦
This cool space breeze is made up of material from the plasmasphere-- basically a giant space donut of dense, cold plasma that wraps around the Earth, with us as its donut hole. The material in the plasmasphere doesn't always stay put in its neat, donut-like shape, with some plasma escaping in plumes out toward the magnetosphere, the larger surrounding bubble of the Earth's magnetic field.