Download The Sun * El Sol * Die Sonne

The Sun – El Sol – Die Sonne
ESPS- Palmer High School
Interesting Facts about the sun
 http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=Sun&FORM=HDR
SC3#view=detail&mid=F72C15A1770A0A936D5FF72C1
5A1770A0A936D5F
How big is the sun?
 About 110 times wider than Earth
 1.3 million times bigger than Earth
 Sun is 865 thousand miles wide
Composition of the sun
(what is it made of?)
 Contains 99.8% of the entire mass of Solar
System
 Earth’s primary source of energy
 Made of Gases (what 2 types of gases?)
 Hydrogen 70%
 Helium 28%
How does the sun produce
energy?
The Sun produces energy by the
nuclear fusion of hydrogen into
helium in its core.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i
yS2WmT9NM
Inside of the sun
 Core
 Radiative Zone
 Convection zone
Nuclear Fusion
hydrogen atoms in the core are
crushed together (fused) into a
helium atom
This energy is then radiated out
from the core and moves across the
solar system.
This is radiation (gamma rays)
Hydrogen
Great Pressure
yields
Helium + ENERGY
The Sun’s Atmosphere
 Photosphere- surface from which the solar light that we
see is emitted -- temperature 6000°C
 Chromosphere- layer above the photosphere hydrogen
at this temperature gives the sun its color – temperature
20,000°C
 Corona- outer atmosphere of the Sun -- temperature of
millions of degrees (but it is 10 billion times less dense
than the atmosphere of the Earth at sea level)
Features of the sun
 Sun Spots-
These are dark, cool areas that appear
on the photosphere. Sunspots always appear in pairs
and are intense magnetic fields (about 5,000 times
greater than the Earth's magnetic field) that break
through the surface. Caused by movement of gases.
Features of the sun continued…
 Solar Flares
sudden, violent explosions from the
sun.
 release gas, electrons, visible light, ultraviolet light and
X-rays
 caused by sudden magnetic field changes in areas
where the sun's magnetic field is concentrated.
Effects of Solar Flares
 When charged particles reach the Earth's
magnetic field, they interact with it at the
poles to produce the auroras
 Solar flares can disrupt communications,
satellites, navigation systems and even
power grids
Sun features continued….CME’s
coronal mass ejections
 Solar flares twist back on themselves and
cut off from the sun
 Release packet of plasma into space
 Plasma is superheated electrically charged
gas
Coronal Mass Ejection (CME’s)
Effects of CME
• Can damage satellites and
communications
• Very dangerous to astronauts
• Power problems
This series of images of coronal mass ejections taken with LASCO C3
(May 1-31, 1997) at
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/bestofsoho/Movies/C3May97/C3M
ay97sm.mpg
Features of the sun continued…
Solar Wind
 Blows charged particles and magnetic fields away from
the Sun
 Charged particles captured by Earth’s magnetic field
 Create Auroras or Northern and Southern Lights
• Electrons from solar wind are
Auroras captured by the Earth’s magnetic
field
• Interact with atoms in our
atmosphere: oxygen and nitrogen
make red and green; nitrogen can
also make violet
• Northern lights are Aurora Borealis,
while southern are Aurora Australis
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/bestofsoho/Movies/animation/Solar
wind.mpg
How does the sun affect the
Earth?
 Gravity- Orbits- The Sun’s powerful gravity keeps the planets in
orbit
 Radiation- Our Sun (and all active stars) emits radiation Radio,
infrared, visible, ultraviolet, x-ray and even some gamma rays. Most
of the sunlight is yellow-green visible light
 The Earth’s atmosphere filters out some frequencies
Ozone layer protects us from some ultra-violet, and most x-rays and
gamma rays
 Sunlight is absorbed by Earth
The Sun does NOT send “heat rays” into space. Some of its light is
infrared, but that is not the same thing as heat.
The Sun’s light is absorbed by Earth (clouds, plants, oceans, rock…)
By absorbing the light, we are transforming it into heat energy
How does our Sun compare to
other Stars?
 Active stars range in size from supergiants to dwarfsOur sun is a dwarf with medium mass
 Stars range from very bright (supergiants) to very dim
(dwarfs)-Our Sun is a medium-bright dwarf
 Stars range from very hot blue on the outside (O class)
to cool red on the outside (M class)-Our Sun is inbetween--yellow
So is our Sun an average star?
 No—most stars are smaller and cooler than our Sun BUT
 Most of the bright stars we see are bigger and hotter
http://www.treehugger.com/slideshows/natural-sciences/12-mostamazing-time-lapse-videos-stars-landscapes-and-urbanscenes/page/3/#slide-top