THE STAR : OUR SUN

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THE STAR OUR SUN
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Properties of the Sun

• average size yellow star
• fairly cool compared to other stars
• diameter is approx. 110 times larger than
  Earths, with a volume that hold more than
  1,000,000 Earths.
• Light traveling from the sun takes approx. 8
  minutes 20 seconds to reach Earth!
• surface temperature is approx. 5,500 ?C and its
  interior temperature is believed to be 15,000,000
  ?C!!

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Sunspots Prominences

• Sunspots are regions of intense magnetic fields
• Sunspot temperatures are cooler than the
  photosphere, which makes them appear as dark
  spots
• Prominences are regions along a magnetic field
  line where conditions are right for light to be
  emitted
• Huge, arching columns of gas often appearing
  above sunspots

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Solar Flares

• Occasionally, kinks and stresses occur on
  magnetic field lines discharging amounts  of
  energy (known as Solar Flares)
• The amount of energy released is equivalent to a
  2 billion megaton bomb
• Flares release large numbers of particles into
  the corona

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Source of the Suns Energy

• The process of NUCLEAR FUSION
• Einstein explained this process as
• E MC² (matter can be converted into energy)
• The hydrogen molecules that the sun is made of
  fuse together to form a helium atom. When this
  occurs, energy is given off!
• It is estimated that the sun has enough mass
  for nuclear fusion to continue for 5 billion more
  years!

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