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The Sun

The Sun. Components of the Sun. Core Radiative zone Convective zone Atmosphere Photosphere Chromosphere Corona Solar wind (mass loss). Solar Power. Sun ’ s glow fueled by Nuclear Fusion

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The Sun

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  1. The Sun

  2. Components of the Sun • Core • Radiative zone • Convective zone • Atmosphere • Photosphere • Chromosphere • Corona • Solar wind (mass loss)

  3. Solar Power Sun’s glow fueled by Nuclear Fusion • Fusion is process by which lighter atoms undergo “collisions” that spawn heavier atoms and a release of energy for radiation • Fission, on the other hand, is when a heavy atom “breaks up” to yield a lighter atom plus energy

  4. Proton-Proton Chain • p-p chain converts 41H 14He (so 4 bare protons combine to make a helium nucleus with 2p’s and 2n’s) • Also get photons and neutrinos in this process • Neutrinos are (nearly) massless particles traveling near light speeds and interacting only weakly with matter

  5. The Chain

  6. Solar Neutrinos • Neutrinos are elementary particles moving near light speed, but which interact only weakly with matter. • They are important because they can come from nuclear reactions and emerge directly from the core of the Sun. • Raymond Davis arranged the first neutrino experiment. He discovered a “neutrino problem”, but this seems to be resolved today. A modern neutrino experiment, Super-Kamiokande run by Japan

  7. Share Question Tremendous pressure is created at the Sun's center due to its own gravity. What keeps it from collapsing? a) neutrinos and other particles generated by nuclear fusion b) a hard inner core c) thermal (gas) pressure generated by nuclear fusion d) thermal (gas) pressure left over from the formation of the Sun

  8. Solar Atmosphere • Photosphere: the layer that we “see” in visible light • Chromosphere: tenuous, somewhat hotter layer above photosphere • Corona: extended region of million degree gas above chromosphere

  9. Emergence of Light from the Core

  10. Perspectives of the Sun

  11. A Solar Eclipse

  12. The Transition Region

  13. Solar Activity • Sunspots – cool blemishes that come and go on an 11 year cycle • During cycle, spots initially appear at high latitudes and thereafter at progressively lower lats. • Prominences – extended columns of gas that trace out magnetic loops (can rise to 50,000 km above photosphere) • Flares – explosive and energetic events involving hot gas of up to 40 million K

  14. Sunspots

  15. Solar Granulation - Convective Cells

  16. Spicules

  17. Prominences

  18. Prominence Movie

  19. Solar Cycle in X-rays X-ray emission from the solar corona, taken every 120 days, from 1991 (left) to 1995 (going right)

  20. Solar Cycle in Extreme UV Images from the SOHO satellite

  21. Sun-Earth Connection

  22. Solar Wind Movie

  23. CME Movie #1

  24. CME Movie #2

  25. Magnetic Loops at the Sun

  26. Butterfly Diagram

  27. Sunspot Number

  28. Understanding The Solar Cycle

  29. Solar Cycle and the Earth’s Climate

  30. The Solar Wind • 1951, Biermann discovered solar wind by considering comet tails • Speed near earth around 400 km/s travel time across 1 AU is ~4 days • Provides injection of material resulting in aurorae • Combination of wind and magnetic field have caused a “spin down” of Sun’s rotation

  31. Solar Wind Mass Flux

  32. Space Weather

  33. The Resonating Sun

  34. Solar Sailing • To make G > 1 requires a material with (A/m) > 1300 m2/kg (equivalent to 36m x 36m) • For 1 kg of sail, and G = 2, Fnet = 0.006 N

  35. Long-Term Changes in the Sun

  36. Temperature-Luminosity States

  37. Solar Endpoints: Planetary Nebulae

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