Energetic neutral atom Energetic neutral atom Energetic neutral atom (ENA) imaging, often described as "seeing with atoms", is a technology used to create global images of otherwise invisible phenomena in the magnetospheres of planets and throughout the heliosphere, even to its outer boundary. This constitutes the far-flung edge of the solar system. The solar wind consists of ripped-apart atoms (called plasma) flying out of the Sun. This is mostly hydrogen, that is, bare electrons and protons, with a little bit of other kinds of nuclei, mostly helium. The space between solar systems is similar, but they come from other stars in our galaxy.
Solar wind thin plasma of the heliosphere, launching electromagnetic waves and accelerating particles (mostly protons and electrons) to form showers of ionizing radiation that precede the CME. When a CME impacts the Earth's magnetosphere, it temporarily deforms the Earth's magnetic field, changing the direction of compass needles and inducing large electrical ground currents in Earth itself; this is called a geomagnetic storm and it is a global phenomenon. CME impacts can induce magnetic reconnection in Earth's magnetotail (the midnight side of the magnetosphere); this launches protons and electrons downward toward Earth's atmosphere, where they form the aurora. ICMEs are not the only