THE SUN

Is the Sun a star? The Sun is the closest star to Earth. It makes its own heat and light. The earth orbits around the sun. It gives the earth heat and light.

Sun’s Energy 37)Suns’ Energy is generated by Nuclear Fusion. Hydrogen to Helium

LARGEST… The Sun is the largest object in the solar system! Example: Mass 333,000 x Earth or 1000 x Jupiter 32)Approximately 99% of the solar system is located in this celestial object.

The Sun and planets, shown to scale The Sun and planets, shown to scale. Earth is the small blue dot in the middle of the box.

LAYERS OF THE SUN Major Regions: Interior (“Inner-sphere”) Core Radiative Zone Convective Zone Atmosphere (“Outer-sphere”) Photosphere Chromosphere Corona No real “surface” - it is gaseous all the way to the center!

What is the hottest portion/part of the sun? The CORE! Location of Sun’s energy generation by nuclear fusion.

Radiative zone The radiative zone of the solar interior is characterized by the process of radiation.

Convection Zone The convection zone is a region of the Sun where hot and cooler gases circulate in convection currents.

Now lets look at the… OUTER-SPHERE OR ATMOSHPHERE OF THE SUN

ATMOSPHERE… The atmosphere of the sun is composed of several layers, mainly the photosphere, the chromosphere, and the corona.

PHOTOSPHERE The lowest layer of the sun's atmosphere is the photosphere.

CHROMOPSHERE The next layer is the chromosphere. The chromosphere emits a reddish glow as super-heated hydrogen burns off.

CORONA The third layer of the sun's atmosphere is the corona. It can only be seen during a total solar eclipse as well. It appears as white streamers or plumes of ionized gas that flow outward into space. As the gases cool, they become the solar wind.

Solar Eclipse

Solar Flares, Solar Wind, and Sunspots

Solar Flares A solar flare is a violent explosion above the suns surface. A large amount of energy is released.

Solar flares may last for 10 minutes and will produce more energy than a MILLION hydrogen bombs. This results in the production of a magnetic field that interacts with the earth’s magnetic field.

Solar Flares When this occurs on the Sun, the Earth can experience problems with satellite communications.

Sunspots

Sunspots Sunspots appear as dark spots on the surface of the Sun. They typically last for several days, although very large ones may live for several weeks.

Sunspots Sunspots are the coolest locations on the surface of the Sun! Appears dark only because its gases are a few thousand degrees cooler than surround gas….so it radiates less energy.

Sunspots Always seem to occur in pairs Sunspots Always seem to occur in pairs. Probable due to how the kinks in Magnetic field penetrate the photosphere.

Solar Wind The solar wind is a stream of energized, charged particles, primarily electrons and protons, flowing outward from the Sun.

Solar Wind They cause magnetic storms! Auroras, called the northern lights, occur when layers of our atmosphere are energized by solar winds.

Solar Wind The solar wind is what blows the tails of comets back away from the bodies of comets as they go through the solar system.