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Space Weather is a term which has become accepted over the past few
years to refer to a collection of physical processes, beginning at the
Sun and ultimately affecting human activities on Earth and in space.
The Sun emits energy, as flares of electromagnetic radiation (radio
waves, infra-red, light, ultraviolet, X-rays), and as energetic electrically
charged particles through coronal mass ejections and plasma streams.
The particles travel outwards as the solar wind, carrying parts of the
Sun's magnetic field with them. The electromagnetic radiation travels
at the speed of light and takes about 8 minutes to move from Sun to
Earth, whereas the charged particles travel more slowly, taking from
a few hours to several days to move from Sun to Earth. The radiation
and particles interact with the Earth's (geo)magnetic field and outer
atmosphere in complex ways, causing concentrations of energetic particles
to collect and electric currents to flow in regions of the outer atmosphere
(magnetosphere and ionosphere). These can result in
geomagnetic
variations, aurora, and can
affect a number
of technologies.
Spaceweather.org is being hosted by the International Space Environment Service as a gateway to
a variety of information about space weather topics. The first area covered is space weather in the
solar system. Information on other topics will be added as they become available.
