solar wind

The solar wind consists of charged particles (solar-wind particles) traveling out from the Sun. The particles are electrons and protons with a high kinetic energy from the high temperature of the Sun's corona, i.e., they consist of the high-speed tail of the corona's Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution that exceeds the Sun's escape velocity. The solar wind eventually hits the interstellar medium, carving out a bubble around the solar system called the heliosphere. Typical solar wind is 145 km/s though there is variation. The Sun's resulting mass loss is about 10^-14 solar masses/year. Stars can discharge analogous stellar winds, the speeds and mass losses vary by type of star.