Editing Solar wind (section)

==Acceleration mechanism==
While early models of the solar wind relied primarily on [[thermal energy]] to accelerate the material, by the 1960s it was clear that thermal acceleration alone cannot account for the high speed of solar wind. An additional unknown acceleration mechanism is required and likely relates to [[magnetic field]]s in the solar atmosphere.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ramaty |first1=R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6eA_AQAAMAAJ&dq=unknown+acceleration+mechanism+is+required+and+likely+relates+to+magnetic+fields+in+the+solar+atmosphere&pg=PA504 |title=High Energy Phenomena on the Sun |last2=Stone |first2=R. G. |date=1973 |publisher=Scientific and Technical Information Office, National Aeronautics and Space Administration |language=en}}</ref>

The Sun's [[solar corona|corona]], or extended outer layer, is a region of plasma that is heated to over a [[kelvin|megakelvin]]. As a result of thermal collisions, the particles within the inner corona have a range and distribution of speeds described by a [[Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution|Maxwellian distribution]]. The mean velocity of these particles is about {{val|145|u=km/s}}, which is well below the solar [[escape velocity]] of {{val|618|u=km/s}}. However, a few of the particles achieve energies sufficient to reach the terminal velocity of {{val|400|u=km/s}}, which allows them to feed the solar wind. At the same temperature, electrons, due to their much smaller mass, reach escape velocity and build up an electric field that further accelerates ions away from the Sun.<ref name=encrenaz>{{cite book
 | first=Thérèse | last=Encrenaz|author-link=Thérèse Encrenaz
 |author2=Bibring, J.-P. |author3=Blanc, M.
  | date=2003 | title=The Solar System | publisher=Springer
 | isbn=978-3-540-00241-3 }}</ref>

The total number of particles carried away from the Sun by the solar wind is about {{val|1.3e36}} per second.<ref name=kallenrode/> Thus, the total mass loss each year is about {{val|2|-|3|e=-14}} [[solar mass]]es,<ref>{{cite book
 | first=Bradley W. | last=Carroll |author2=Ostlie, Dale A.
  | date=1995 | title=An Introduction to Modern Astrophysics
 | edition=revised 2nd | publisher=Benjamin Cummings
 | isbn=978-0-201-54730-6 | page=409}}</ref> or about 1.3–1.9 million tonnes per second. This is equivalent to losing a mass equal to the Earth every 150&nbsp;million years.<ref>{{cite book
 | first=Carolus J. | last=Schrijver
 |author2=Zwaan, Cornelis  | date=2000
 | title=Solar and stellar magnetic activity
 | publisher=Cambridge University Press
 | isbn=978-0-521-58286-5 }}</ref> However, since the Sun's formation, only about 0.01% of its initial mass has been lost through the solar wind.<ref name="meyer-vernet"/> Other stars have much stronger [[stellar wind]]s that result in significantly higher mass-loss rates.

=== Jetlets ===
In March 2023 solar extreme ultraviolet observations have shown that small-scale magnetic reconnection could be a driver of the solar wind as a swarm of [[Nanoflare|nanoflares]] in the form omnipresent jetting activity a.k.a. jetlets producing short-lived streams of hot plasma and [[Alfvén wave|Alfvén waves]] at the base of the solar corona. This activity could also be connected to the [[#Magnetic switchback|magnetic switchback]] phenomenon of the solar wind.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Raouafi |first1=Nour E. |last2=Stenborg |first2=G. |last3=Seaton |first3=D. B. |last4=Wang |first4=H. |last5=Wang |first5=J. |last6=DeForest |first6=C. E. |last7=Bale |first7=S. D. |last8=Drake |first8=J. F. |last9=Uritsky |first9=V. M. |last10=Karpen |first10=J. T. |last11=DeVore |first11=C. R. |last12=Sterling |first12=A. C. |last13=Horbury |first13=T. S. |last14=Harra |first14=L. K. |last15=Bourouaine |first15=S. |date=2023-03-01 |title=Magnetic Reconnection as the Driver of the Solar Wind |journal=The Astrophysical Journal |volume=945 |issue=1 |pages=28 |doi=10.3847/1538-4357/acaf6c |arxiv=2301.00903 |bibcode=2023ApJ...945...28R |s2cid=255393967 |issn=0004-637X|hdl=20.500.11850/603055 |hdl-access=free |doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Nicitopoulos |first=Theo |date=24 April 2024 |title=Tiny Jets on the Sun Power the Colossal Solar Wind |url=https://www.quantamagazine.org/tiny-jets-on-the-sun-power-the-colossal-solar-wind-20230424/ |website=[[Quanta Magazine]]}}</ref>