There is one last solar phenomenon that will be mentioned. The
Solar Wind.
Hot particles, mostly and ``evaporate'' from the Sun and
stream into the solar system to the tune of .
These very high speed, charged particles are dangerous!
Fortunately, we are protected from this radiation by
the Earth's magnetic field. Because of the complex way that
moving charged particles and magnetic fields interact, the
charged particles from the Sun are trapped in the Van Allen
Radiation belts and funneled to the North and South Poles
of the Earth. There they crash into atoms in the upper atmosphere,
excit and ionize them and on de-excitation photons are
given off - these are the Northern and Southern Lights.
Solar activity is variable and has some significant effects
on radio communications, the lifetime of satellite orbits
and apparently on the Earth's weather.
and 
``evaporate'' from the Sun and
stream into the solar system to the tune of 
.