Abstract
IT is generally believed that the Sun is a source of highly ionized gas which streams outward through the solar system at all times and in all directions1. At the orbit of the Earth, even under the quietest solar conditions, the velocity and density appear to be of the order of 500 km./sec. and 102 to 103 particles/cm.3 respectively. (When the Sun is very active velocities greater than 1,500 km./sec. and densities up to 105 cm.3 may be produced sporadically.) Theoretically2, it is expected that this steady gas stream will finally become unstable at some radial distance from the Sun and establish a region of highly disordered interplanetary magnetic field and plasma.
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Byram, E. T., Chubb, T. A., and Friedman, H., J. Geophys. Res., 61, 251 (1956).
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REIFFEL, L. Low-Energy X-Rays from Interplanetary Space. Nature 185, 229 (1960). https://doi.org/10.1038/185229a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/185229a0
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