The solar wind is the outward plasma flow from the Sun, carrying an interplanetary magnetic field. Its pressure and field compress intrinsic planetary magnetospheres, form magnetotails, and can drive an induced magnetosphere around a planet with no appreciable intrinsic field.
Magnetic flux freezing in a highly conducting solar wind can carry open magnetic field lines outward. A nearly radial flux tube occupying fixed solid angle has area proportional to , so constant magnetic flux gives . If a field is approximately dipolar inside an opening radius and radial beyond it, its radial component at is enhanced by order compared with continued dipolar decay. Opposite polarities preserve zero net flux through a closed surface; this approximation does not introduce a magnetic monopole.
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Solar wind is a continuous flow of charged particles, primarily electrons and protons, released from the upper atmosphere of the Sun, known as the corona. This stream of plasma travels through space at varying speeds, typically ranging from 300 to 800 kilometers per second (about 670,000 to 1.8 million miles per hour).