The solar wind is accelerated in the suns corona, the hottest part of its atmosphere, so its atoms have been ionized -- stripped of many of their electrons. When a neutral atom collides with a solar wind ion, one of its electrons often jumps to the charged particle. Once captured by the ion, the electron briefly remains in an excited state, then emits a soft X-ray and settles down at a lower energy. This is solar wind charge exchange in action. thewatchers.adorraeli/2014/07/30/fog-of-low-energy-x-rays-puzzle-resolved/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
Posted on: Wed, 30 Jul 2014 09:05:41 +0000