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Notes on the Sun (24.1: page 559-563)

The sun as a fusion reactor

1. What is included in the solar system?
1. Sun, planets, asteroids, comets, meteoroids.

2. What types of energy does the sun produce?
1. Heat, light, and radiation

3. What is nuclear fusion?
1. Conversion of hydrogen to helium

4. What is the sun’s major “fuel”?
1. Hydrogen

5. When will the sun run out of its “fuel”?
1. ~4.5 billion years

Layers of the Sun

1. What are the 6 layers of the sun?
1. Core, radiation zone, convection zone, photosphere, chromosphere, corona

2. Using table 24.1: Which layer of the sun is the thickest? The thinnest?
1. Thick: radiation zone

Thin: photosphere

3. Using table 24.1: Which layer of the sun is the hottest? The coldest?
1. Hot: core

Cold: photosphere

4. Which 3 layers make up the sun’s atmosphere?
1. Photosphere, chromosphere, corona

5. Describe each of the 6 layers of the sun.
1. 1. Core: center layer; nuclear fusion

2. Radiation Zone: outside of core; heat radiates outward

3. Convection Zone: heat from core causes convection currents to occur

4. Photosphere: 1^st layer of the sun’s atmosphere; photo means “light”; makes light; visible as the sun’s “surface” from the Earth

5. Chromosphere: 2^nd layer of the sun’s atmosphere; made of streams of hydrogen gas; reddish in color

6. Corona: outer most layer of the sun’s atmosphere; visible during a solar eclipse; creates solar wind

6. Why is the core under extreme pressure?
1. Contraction of sun’s huge mass causes the greatest pressure at the center

7. When people see sunspots, where are the spots?
1. On the photosphere

8. What makes up most of the chromosphere?
1. Streams of hydrogen gas

9. When can we observe the outermost layer of the sun’s atmosphere?
1. During a solar eclipse

10. Which layer of the sun’s atmosphere do people usually see?
1. Photosphere

Activity of the Sun

1. How does the solar wind affect the Earth?
1. It interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field to form the magnetosphere; also can cause auroras

2. What supports prominences?
1. Magnetic fields that stretch from one sunspot group to another

3. What are sunspots?
1. Storms that occur where powerful magnetic fields break through the photosphere and prevent interior heat/light from escaping; appear as dark spots on the sun

4. What do prominences and sunspots have in common?
1. They both involve magnetic fields

5. What are solar flares?
1. Intense spurts of electromagnetic radiation even more powerful then prominences

6. Why do solar flares affect radio communications on Earth?
1. They produce cosmic rays that affect the electromagnetic spectrum, of which radio waves are a part