subject: Learning About The Sun [print this page] The sun is one of the most important parts of the solar system to all life on Earth. Also known as Sol in Latin, which is where the term Solar System, also originates from.
The sun is a basic main sequence star. It is also the biggest object in terms or size and mass within the solar system.
The Sun is so large that is contains 99.8 percent of the matter within the Solar System. The next largest object in the Solar System is Jupiter.
Jupiter takes up most of the rest of the percentage of mass within the Solar System. The Sun is classified as a population one, GV2 class star.
This classification means that the Sun is basically a typical star. In most ways, this is true, but the sun is actually larger than most typical stars in the same category as the Sun.
There are two main elements found within the Sun. The Sun is made up of about 74% hydrogen and 25% helium.
There are also very small amounts of other elements. The Sun is extremely hot and burns at a temperature of 15.6 million degrees Kelvin at the core.
The core of the Sun is consists of the inner most 20% of elements. In the core, the pressure reaches an amount greater than 250 billion atmospheres.
In addition, the density of the elements in the core is more than 150 times the density of water. The combination of temperature and pressure causes nuclear fusion to occur in the core.
Nuclear fusion is when hydrogen atoms combine to make helium atoms. When the helium is form, a lot of energy is released in gamma rays.
The energy released in gamma rays from the Sun is equal to 386 billion megawatts in power. The gamma rays release this energy at increasing lower temperatures and they travel to the surface of the sun.
When the gamma rays reach the surface of the sun, they have emitted so much energy that they are basically normal, visible light. It continues to travel at this point through convection instead of radiation.
The convection zone where gamma rays continue to travel includes everything from the Sun's outer layer to 70% of the radius of the Sun. In the convection zone, huge thermal columns are created.
In these columns is where the convection happens. The convection columns are heated through nuclear fusion and are the means for releasing energy, light and particles from the core into outer space.
When the thermal columns release the energy, they cool down. As they cool down, they shrink and fall back into the middle of the sun.
When they are reheated they rise back up to begin the process again. The tall columns can sometimes be seen on the surface of the Sun.
The visual effect of these columns is called solar granulation or super granulation. The top layer of the sun that is visible to the Earth observer is called the photosphere.
The temperature of the surface of the sun is only 5800 degrees Kelvin. The atmosphere of the sun is made up of five layers. These layers are known as the temperature minimum, chromosphere, transition region, corona, and heliosphere.
The temperature minimum region has a temperature of only 4000 degrees Kelvin. This means that molecules such as water and carbon monoxide can be found in this region.
Surprisingly in the transition region there the temperature spikes to one million degrees Kelvin again. This spike in temperature is due to the transition of the element helium.
This region is continuously fluctuating in size. You may have heard of sun spots that are sometimes seen on the surface of the Sun.
The temperature surrounding these spots is much lower than the rest of the surface area of the sun. The lower temperature results in a darker color.
These darker spots are responsible for the formation of solar flares. The number of sunspots rotates though an eleven year solar cycle.
The Sun is about four and a half billion years old. During that time, the Sun has used up about half of the hydrogen fuel that it began with.
This means that the sun will burn for about another five billion years before it transitions into another phase. The Sun will become a red giant and consume the Earth after which it will collapse into a white dwarf.
The Sun is miraculous in how it works. Today scientists are trying to capture its awesome power through solar panels to put it to use.
