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The Sun

The Sun. Notes. The Sun’s Interior. The sun contains about 99.8% of the entire mass of the solar system. The sun does not have a solid surface. The sun is a ball of gas that glows. About 3/4 of the sun’s mass is hydrogen gas. About 1/4 of the mass is helium gas.

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The Sun

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  1. The Sun • Notes

  2. The Sun’s Interior • The sun contains about 99.8% of the entire mass of the solar system. • The sun does not have a solid surface. The sun is a ball of gas that glows. About 3/4 of the sun’s mass is hydrogen gas. About 1/4 of the mass is helium gas. • The sun’s interior consists of the core, radiation zone, and the convection zone.

  3. One Hydrogen Atom One Helium Atom One proton Zero neutrons Two Protons Zero neutrons An element is defined by the number of protons it contains.

  4. The Sun’s Interior • The center of the sun is called the core. The sun produces energy at its core. The sun’s energy comes from nuclear fusion. In nuclear fusion, hydrogen atoms joins together to form helium.

  5. Nuclear Fusion • Inside of a star, hydrogen only exists as a single proton, without any electrons H+ + H+= Deuterium (1 proton+1 neutron) Deuterium + H+ = 3He (2 protons + 1 neutron) 3He + 3He = He + 2H+ • This entire process requires 6 hydrogen atoms, but only gives 2 back.

  6. Nuclear Fusion • In other words: P + P = PN (Deuterium) PN + P = PNP (3He) PNP + PNP = PNNP + P + P

  7. The Sun’s Interior • The middle layer of the sun is called the radiation zone. • The radiation zone is so tightly packed (dense), that it can take energy (light) more than 100,000 years to move all the way through it.

  8. The Sun’s Interior • The outer layer of the sun is called the convection zone. Streams of gas move energy toward the sun’s surface. • In the convective zone, extremely hot gases move freely in cells that will travel towards the surface then cool off (relatively speaking) and sink back towards the core. • This process is known as convection. • It’s the same process that gives us the phrase, “warm air rises.”

  9. The Sun’s Atmosphere • The sun’s atmosphere consists of the photosphere, the chromosphere, and the corona. • The innermost layer of the sun’s atmosphere is the photosphere. Photo means “light.” The photosphere means the sphere that gives off visible light. • When you look at an image of the sun, you are looking at the photosphere.

  10. The Sun’s Atmosphere • The middle layer of the sun’s atmosphere is the chromosphere. • This layer is only visible during a total solar eclipse, when the viewer is in the umbra of the eclipse. • The chromosphere is a faith red glow around the photosphere during an eclipse. • Chroma means “color,” so the chromosphere is the “color sphere” of the sun.

  11. The Sun’s Atmosphere • The outer layer of the sun is known as the corona. • This too is only visible during a total solar eclipse. • During a solar eclipse, the corona appears to be a large white halo surrounding the blackness of the moon. • Corona means “crown.” • As the corona extends into space for millions of kilometers, it gradually becomes so thin, it only consists of electrically charged particles called the solar wind.

  12. Features of the Sun • The sun’s surface is neither flat, nor inactive. Scientists have spotted a variety of features that occur either on, or just above the surface of the sun. • Early in the observation of the sun, scientists noticed that there were darker spots on the surface. These came to be known as sunspots. • They may look small, but many can be larger than Earth.

  13. Features on the Sun • Sunspot are actually areas of cooler gases on the sun’s surface. These areas move and have a regular cycle of 11 years, where they will grow and seem to disappear. • Sunspots were even used to prove that the sun rotates on an axis much the same way Earth does.

  14. Features on the Sun • A prominence is a huge loop of gas that links different areas of sunspots and is connected to fluctuations of the sun’s magnetic field. • A solar flare is an explosion of gas from the sun’s surface out into space, usually associated with a massive release of magnetic energy.

  15. Prominence Solar flare recorded on July 7, 2011 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Solar_Blast.ogg

  16. Features on the Sun • Solar flares can greatly increase the solar wind from the corona, resulting in an increase in the number of particles reaching Earth’s upper atmosphere. • Normally, Earth’s own magnetic field blocks these particles, but there are weak spots in our “force-field” at the North and South Poles. • When solar winds enter our atmosphere through these weak spots, it causes out atmosphere to glow, creating massive sheets of colors that cover the skies. These are known as auroras. • Auroras in the northern hemisphere are called the Aurora Borealis and auroras in the souther hemisphere are called the Aurora Australis.

  17. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_%28astronomy%29

  18. Features on the Sun • Because solar winds interact with Earth’s magnetic field, it can create something known as magnetic storms. • These storms within our magnetic field have the ability to disrupt radio, telephone, and television signals. It can break down the electrical grid and fry satellite circuitry. • On March 13, 1989 a severe geomagnetic storm caused the collapse of the Hydro-Québec power grid in a matter of seconds as equipment protection relays tripped in a cascading sequence of events. Six million people were left without power for nine hours, with significant economic loss. The storm even caused aurorae as far south as Texas.

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