3. The Solar Interior Core Radiation Zone Convection Zone

4. Innermost Layer Hottest Layer…… 14,000,000 degrees Celsius Sun’s Energy Is Produced Here……… By Nuclear Fusion: The Core

5. The Radiation Zone Energy travels via waves through this region. Here, energy is radiated from the core much like a space heater radiates heat through the air. Temperatures range from 4,500,000 0 C to 8,100,000 0 C

6. Toward Surface Cooler Gases Sink Hotter Gases Rise Toward Core The Convection Zone 2,000,000 0 C Energy produced in the core rises towards the surface via………. convection currents

8. The Sun’s Surface  Photosphere: This the “disk” you see when you look at a picture of the sun:

9. Photosphere (cont.) Only 5,700 – 10,300 0 C Only 5,700 – 10,300 0 C ……..…How cool is that? Granular appearance: Due to convection from underneath. (Very Cool) Sunspots: Magnetic storms that appear as dark patches. (Very Cool) Seem to peak in 8-11 year cycles.  Flares and Prominences: Eruptions of plasma from surface. Sometimes they affect earth’s atmosphere producing auroras and may interfere with satellite/radio communications.

12. The Solar Atmosphere These regions of the sun can only be observed during a total solar eclipse  Chromosphere- A very thin reddish ring (2,500 km) as seen just prior to and after the peak of a total solar eclipse.  Corona- Extremely high temperatures (millions of degrees Celsius) - Emits high energy radiation. - Produces both white and red light.

13. White Corona Red Corona

14. Solar Eclipse Occurs when: Moon is located between sun and earth. Moon casts its shadow on the earth. Due to the moon’s cone-shaped shadow, a total solar eclipse can only be seen in limited areas.

15. When viewed within the: Umbra- you see a total solar eclipse. Penumbra- you see a partial solar eclipse.

17. Diameter: 1.4 million km (870,000 miles) Age: 4.5 billion years Mass: 330,000 x Earth Distance from Earth: 149.6 million km (93 million miles) Density: 1.41 (water=1) Distance to Nearest Star: 9.46 million million km Solar Wind Speed: 3 million km/hr. Luminosity: 390 billion billion megawatts Solar Cycle: 8 - 11 years Temperature at surface: 5,500 o C (9,932 o F) Temperature at Core: 14 million o C (22.5 million o F) Temperature of Sunspots: 4,000 o C (7,232 o F) Rotation Period at Equator: 25 Earth days Rotation Period at Poles: 35 Earth days Solar Facts