Download Notes Chapter 4

ES T 4
Notes Chapter 4
1. The ‘sun’ is the greater light to rule
the day as stated in Genesis 1:16
2. The sun’s orbit is in the spiral arm of
the Milky Way galaxy.
3. The sun’s diameter is 1.4 million km.
4. The distance from the sun to the
earth is 150 million km.
5. The moon looks as large as the sun
from the earth because, although its
diameter is only 1/400 that of the
sun, it is 400 times closer to the earth
than the sun is.
6. The sun contains over 99% of all
matter in the entire solar system (in a
plasma state)
7. The radiated energy of the sun
travels mostly in the form of
electromagnetic waves.
8. A small percentage of the suns
energy is in the form of neutral
subatomic particles called neutrinos
which travel at the speed of light.
9. wavelength—the distance from the
crest (top) of one wave to the crest
of the next
10.
The x-ray has a short
wavelength, only the gamma ray is
shorter.
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11.
The distance from the sun and
other stars contains energy of all
wave lengths and thus includes all
the colors of the rainbows.
12.
The human eye cannot detect
ultraviolet, infrared or gamma rays
but can detect orange light.
13.
diffraction grating—produces a
spectrum much like that produced
by a prism
14.
Each pure substance has its own
‘signature’ or pattern of lines.
15. Spectroscope—the astronomers
tool that identifies chemical elements
in an incandescent light source
16. The most abundant element in the
sun is hydrogen.
17. More than 60 of the naturally
occurring elements have been
identified in the sun.
18. The element helium was found in
the sun before it was found on earth.
19. The sun’s surface is plasma.
20. photosphere—the visible surface of
the sun
21. granules—masses of hot plasma
rising from the sun’s interior to the
surface, just like a seething pot of
nearly boiling water
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22. sunspots—dark areas on the
surface of the sun
23. Astronomers have notices that
sunspot marking move across the sun’s
disk from east to west or left to right—
proof the sun is rotating.
24. Sunspots are cooler than the
surrounding photosphere.
25. umbra—dark inner portion of a
sunspot
penumbra—brighter outer portion
of a sunspot
26. The number of sunspots reaching a
maximum average every 11 years.
27. This pattern switches during each
sunspot cycle; therefore it takes 22
years for a complete cycle.
28. Sunspots can last from a few hours
to a few months…most exist for days or
weeks.
29. A layer of ionized particles where
the sun exists is called the ionosphere.
30. The additional ionizing caused by
solar particles makes the ionosphere
reflect better, sometime causing short
waves to bounce several times
between the ionosphere and the
ground which improves radio
broadcasts.
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31. Scientists also suspect that
sunspots may affect the weather.
32. The radio given off by a soar flare
includes x-rays and extreme ultraviolet
rays that temporarily destroy portions
of the ionosphere and thus disrupt a
variety of ground-based radio
communications.
33. An extremely large mass of
particles can be discharged in what is
called a coronal mass ejection (CME)
or a solar flare.
34. Corona—the outer region of the
suns atmosphere
35. Chromosphere—the lower layer of
the sun’s atmosphere
36. The solar atmosphere consists of
three parts:
a. chromosphere
b. corona
c. spicules
37. coronagraph is an instrument that
produces an artificial eclipse
38. spicules—numerous pointes jets of
plasma
39. solar wind—a flow of mostly
protons and electrons from the sun
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40. The corona’s temperature can
reach several million degrees, much
higher than the chromosphere or
photosphere can reach.
41. Prominences—streams of material
that appears to rise into the corona
from the chromosphere and they
gradually fall back.
42. The most widely accepted model
today is that the sun has 3 interior
sections:
a. core
b. radiative zone
c. convective zone
43. core—innermost section, where
most of the thermonuclear reactions
that generate the sun’s energy take
place.
44. The fusion energy travels through
the radiative zone as electromagnetic
waves.
45. In the suns convective zone, hot
plasma rises to the surface, cools and
descends into the interior again.
46. There is no scientific evidence that
stars are forming in the Eagle Nebula,
and no one has ever observed a star
form in this evolutionary fashion.
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47. Like all stars, the sun is slowing
wearing out, “…and they shall wax old
as doth a garment.” Hebrews 1:10-11
48. Weakness of the evolution model
for the origin of the stars:
a. no stars have been observed to
form by the accumulation of gas
b. no supernovas could have
occurred to supply materials for the
first star
c. the probability of all the
conditions needed to forms a star by
natural process alone is near zero
49. A disadvantage of solar energy is
that it is diffuse (not concentrated).
50. Solar energy produces electricity;
photovoltaic or PV cells can convert
light directly to energy.
51. Currently, solar energy’s most
significant application is in heating and
cooling buildings in moderate
climates.