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Observing our Sun
By Damian and Jack 7K
A little about the Sun
The Sun is a star at the centre of the Solar System and it is almost
perfectly round and consists of very hot plasma with magnetic fields.
The Sun has a diameter of 1,392,684km so roughly around 109 times as
big than the Earth. Its mass is 1.989E30kg approximately 330,000 times
the mass of Earth and Its mass accounts for about 99.86% of the total
mass of the Solar System.
Almost 3 quarters of the Sun’s mass is Hydrogen, and the rest is mostly
Helium, the remainder 1.69% (which is 5,600 times the mass of Earth) has
heavy elements including Oxygen, Carbon, Neon and Iron. The sun also
looks like a giant fire ball.
Some more about the Sun
The surface
temperature is 5,778K
(5505°C). The “K”
stands for kelvin, which
is a unit used for
measuring
thermodynamic
temperatures for space.
The distance from Earth
to the sun is
149,600,000km, which
is very, very, very far
away, and the radius of
the Sun is 695,800km
Some more about the Sun
The Sun formed approximately 4.567 billion years
ago (And is also to this day only half way through it’s
life cycle and still has four billion years) and from the
gravitational collapse of a region within a large
molecule cloud. The central mass became very hot
eventually initiating a thermonuclear fusion in its
core.
The sun is a G-type main sequence star, based on
spectral class and its designated as a yellow dwarf,
but it is actually the colour white but may seem
yellow because of the atmospheric scattering of blue
light.
The sun generates its energy by nuclear fusion of
hydrogen nuclei turning it into helium, in its core the
sun fuses about 620 million, tonnes of hydrogen each
second.
Layers
The core is the inner most part of the sun, in here gravity has
squeezed the sun so much that the hydrogen compresses
together to form helium and release energy through nuclear
fusion. The core is about 150 times denser than water, and the
temperature of 15 million degrees Celsius (28 million degrees
Fahrenheit)
The radiative zone is the layer above the core; the density slowly
decreases when it moves away from core. Light produced from a
nuclear fusion in the core travels out of the out of the radiative
zone. This layer is not as dense as the core, but it is still dense
that light from the core bounces around, taking about 100,000
years to move through the radiative zone.
The Convection zone is the above the radiative zone. When the
density of the radiative zone becomes very low, that the energy
from the core in the form of light, it is then converted into heat.
The heat from the edge of the radiative zone until it cools
enough that it sinks to the core again.
Sun will expand
When all the hydrogen has
been burned, the sun will burn
all the helium for about 130
million years more. During that
time it will expand and engulf
Mercury, Venus and Earth, and
as it grows much larger, will
become a red giant.
How the sun affects the seasons
Since the way the earth is tilted and the way it orbits around
the sun, the way the sun reflects light onto the earth matters.
For example. When the southern hemisphere has summer, the
northern hemisphere has winter, correct. Well this is because
when we have summer, our part of the earth is tilted more to
the sun making the sun beams direct to us but for the
northern hemisphere, they aren’t directly pointed to the sun
so the sun rays are obstructed a bit making less rays hit
directly onto the northern hemisphere and the same thing
works when we have winter and they have summer.
Core of the sun
The core of the sun has a density one hundred and fifty times the density of the
water on earth. The core has a temperate of 15.7 million kelvin (k) (or about
15,700,000 degrees Celsius). The inner core of the sun is basically the engine of the
star and fuels the star. In the core of a star the intense heat ruins the internal
structure of an atom and orderly, all atoms are broken down into their constituent
parts. An atom is constructed of protons, electrons and neutrons. Neutrons have no
electric charge and therefore do not interact much with the surrounding medium.
As a result neutrons leave the core pretty quickly. The protons, which have positive
electric charge, and the electrons, which have negative electric charge, remain in
the core and cause the reactions which fuel the Sun. The charge neutral material of
protons and electrons that makes up the core is called plasma. The high
temperature provides the protons and electrons with a large amount of thermal
energy and as a result they move around quite quickly. This motion, combined with
the high density of the plasma, causes the particles to continuously slam into one
another creating nuclear reactions. It is the fusion, or slamming together, of
particular combinations of particles that provides the energy source of the Sun.
There is a theory with something about the core can help us learn more about the
ice ages.
The Sun will explode
The sun is expected to turn into a massive red giant in
about 5 billion years. During this period of time, the
inner layers of the sun will become much hotter and the
outer layers will become much cooler than they are
now. Sadly still no life will be able to go on the sun.
Considering how big the sun is, it might stretch out into
the orbits of earth and mars but that might not happen.
The oceans will boil away and there would be no
atmosphere. Luckily, we won’t be alive and will not
need to worry about this event. This will leave many
questions though like: what will happen to our planet
that we live on now?
What would happen if the sun
turned into a white star
If that were to happen then that would affect Earth in many ways. The
reason being is because if the Sun were to lose all of its heat and gases
then that would mean that the Earth would be getting no warmth and
heat and that means that it would be really cold and people could die of
hypothermia also it would be really dark, without the light of the Sun it
would be very hard to get around because it would pretty much be pitch
dark and you wouldn’t be able to see properly also if that were to happen
would also lose solar energy because all of the light would have
disappeared. So if the Sun were to lose all of its heat and gases that would
have a tremendous cause on the Earth. Also if the Sun where to become a
white dwarf star then that would mean that the Earth would be doomed
because the process of that would equal to the Sun becoming a red giant
eating up mercury and the heat of the Sun will catch on to Earth and end
up burning Earth because of its hot temperature.
Why is the sun so important to us
The sun is very important in our lives because the sun supplies us
with heat and light, it is the most basic renewable energy source.
We use it for solar energy and it give us heat, because if we didn’t,
there would be no life on earth. Also, since the sun is so big, it has a
large gravitational pull and that’s what keeps our planets in orbit
and in perfect distance. It also provides us with vitamin D and that
is essential for the skin. It also makes plants and other living things
to grow. The sun makes energy for everything so if the sun were to
disappear, there would be no energy for any thing and we wouldn’t
be able to do our favourite things like: Running, playing sports,
Gaming and many more things. This would also lead to no
vegetation on earth to eat.
What would life be like without
the sun
If we didn’t have the sun we wouldn’t be able to
live happy lives as we do every day! We
wouldn’t be able to live without it, if we didn’t
have the sun, plants and vegetation wouldn’t be
able to grow and neither would wildlife. It also
produces a lot of gravity which keeps us in
orbit, otherwise Earth would float further and
further and we would end up going past
Neptune.
Surface
The surface of the sun is very hot and boils as
pockets of hot gas come up and sink back
down. this gives the surface a grainy look,
which is called granulation. Big explosions
called Solar Flares rip through the surface and
giant fountain like explosions called
prominences that shoot very hot gases. Dark
spots called sunspots often appear, they are
about 1,500°C cooler than the area around
them.
Granulation
Granulation is when the
area around dark sunspot
groups becomes grey.
Granules on the sun are
caused by convection
currents (thermal columns)
of plasma within the
convective zone.
Solar Flares
A solar flare is a
sudden flash of
brightness over
the Sun's
surface, which
is a large energy
release of up to
6 × 10²⁵ joules of
energy.
Prominences
A prominence is a large,
bright, gaseous feature
that extends out from the
sun’s surface.
Prominences are
anchored to the sun’s
surface in the
photosphere and extends
out into the sun’s corona.
Solar winds
The sun produces a solar wind,
which contains charged particles
such as electrons and protons.
They escaped the suns gravity
because of their high kinetic
energy.
Planets with strong magnetic
fields such as Earth manage to
deflect most of these charged
particles as they approach.
Eclipses
An eclipse occurs when an
astronomical objects (in this case,
the moon and the sun) is caused
when one object comes between
the viewer and another object.
There are two types of eclipses, a
solar eclipse and a lunar eclipse. A
solar eclipse occurs when the
moons shadow crosses the earths
face. A lunar eclipse is when the
moon moves in the earth’s shadow.
They are also a very fascinating
thing to see.
Solar Eclipse
As seen from the Earth, a solar eclipse happens when
the Moon passes in front of the Sun. The type of solar
eclipse event depends on the distance of the Moon
from the Earth during the event. A total solar eclipse
occurs when the Earth intersects the umbra portion of
the Moon's shadow. When the umbra does not reach
the surface of the Earth, the Sun is only partially
occulted, resulting in an annular eclipse. Partial solar
eclipses occur when the viewer is inside the penumbra.
Lunar Eclipse
Lunar eclipses occur when the Moon passes through the
Earth's shadow. This only happens when the Moon is on
the far side of the Earth from the Sun and is also needs
to be a full moon. A lunar eclipse can be observed from
nearly an entire hemisphere. Because of this reason, it is
more common to observe a lunar eclipse from a given
location. A lunar eclipse lasts longer, taking several hours
to complete. Totality itself usually averaging anywhere
from about 30 minutes to over an hour.
Sunspots
Sunspots are temporary phenomena on the
photosphere of the sun and are visible dark spots.
They are caused by intense magnetic activity, forming
areas of reduced surface temperature.
Even though they are at roughly 3,000-4,500K (2,7004,200°C), the surrounding area is at about 5,780K
(5,500°C) leaves them visible as dark spots. If a
sunspot was to be isolated from the surrounding
area, it would be much brighter than the moon.
Analysing the telescope photos
By looking at the photos
we can see that, the sun
looks like a white plate
and the sunspots look
like little black dots. To us
it looks like a plate with
specks of dirt on it.
Before we looked
through the telescope,
we thought it was going
to be a bright
orange/yellow
Gods
The sun influenced many ancient
civilisations to make gods about the sun
ranging from many different years and
times. There are many different sun gods
but we will be talking about our favourite
three today.
Ra
Ra the god of the sun, as the ancient Egyptians
called him. By the fifth dynasty, Ra became one
of the most important gods in ancient Egyptian
legend. Ra was believed to rule the sky, the earth
and the underworld. The Egyptians believed that
the sun was Ra’s eye.
The ancient Egyptians believed that Ra was
swallowed every night by the sky goddess Nut,
and was reborn every morning. The ancient
Egyptians also believed that he travelled through
the underworld at night. In the underworld, Ra
appeared as a man with the head of a ram. Ra is
said to have golden flesh, silver bones and hair
made out of lapis lazuli. During the fourth
dynasty, the pharaoh's were known as the sons
of Ra. As Ra started to become more popular,
Egypt wasted all of their money on building
temples and statues of Ra.
Tonatiuh
In Aztec Mythology, Tonatiuh was
recognised as the god of the sun. The
Aztecs c0nsidered him as the 5th sun, and
that he took over when the 4th sun died
out. Aztec theiories led that each sun was
a god with its own cosmic era, the Aztecs
believed they were still in Tonatiuh's era.
According to the Aztec creation myth, the
god demanded human sacrifices as tribute
and without it would not move through
the sky. It is said that 20,000 people were
killed each year as sacrifices to Tonatiuh
and the other gods. Even though this
number is thought to be inflated either by
the Aztecs, who wanted to inspire fear in
their enemies, or the Spaniards, who
wanted to vilify the Aztecs. The Aztecs
were fascinated by the sun and carefully
observed it, and had a solar
calendar similar to that of the maya. Many
of today's remaining Aztec monuments
have structures aligned with the sun.
Apollo
The ancient Greeks and Romans worshipped Apollo, the
god of the sun. Apollo was not originally the sun god, he
was the god of truth and prophecy, plagues, healing,
arts, archery, agriculture, music and poetry. He was also
believed to be able to bring ill health and plague.
Medicine and healing are associated with Apollo,
whether through the god himself or mediated through
his son.
SOHO
SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory), is a
project of the international collaboration from ESA
and NASA. The aim is to study the sun from its deep
core to the outer corona and the solar wind.
SOHO was launched on December 2, 1995. The
spacecraft was built in Europe by an industry team
led by Matra Marconi Space (now EADS Astrium)
under management by ESA. Large engineering
teams and more than 200 co-investigators from
many institutions, supported by the PI’s in the
development of instruments used in the spacecraft
and in preparation of their operations and data
analysis. NASA
SOHO is made up of two modules. The Service
Module forms the lower part of the spacecraft and
provides power, thermal control, and
telecommunications for the whole spacecraft and
support for the solar panels. The Payload Module
sits above it and houses all the scientific
instruments used for studying the sun.
Yohkoh
Yohkoh (AKA Solar-A), was a solar observatory spacecraft of the institute of space
and astronautically science in japan, in collaboration with space agencies in the United
states and the UK. It was launched into earth’s orbit during August 30, 1991 by the M3s-5 rocket from kagoshima space station. It took its first image on September 13, at
1991 9:53 PM
The satellite was three-axis stabilized and in a near-circular orbit. It carried four
instruments: a Soft X-ray Telescope, a Hard X-ray Telescope, a Bragg Crystal
Spectrometer, and a Wide Band Spectrometer. About 50 Mega bites were generated
each day and this was stored on board by a 10.5 Mega bites bubble recorder .
Yohkoh (continued)
Because the SXT utilized a charged couple
device (CCD) as its readout device, maybe being
the first X-ray astronomical telescope to do so,
its "data cube" of images was both extensive
and convenient, and it revealed very interesting
detail about the behaviour of the solar corona.
Previous solar soft X-ray observations. Many
interesting new discoveries were also made.
The mission ended after more than ten years of
successful observation when it went into its
"safe hold" mode during an annular eclipse on
December 14, 2001 8:58 PM and the spacecraft
lost lock on the sun. Operational mistakes and
other flaws combined in such a way that its solar
panels could no longer charge the batteries,
which drained irreversibly; several other solar
eclipses had successfully been observed.
FUN FACTS
 The suns star type is a yellow dwarf
 One million earths could fit into the sun
 The sun will eventually consume the earth
 The sun is almost a perfect sphere
 The sun travels 220 kilometres per second
 The suns distance from the earth changes each
year
 The sun has a very strong magnetic field
 The sun weighs: 1,989,100,000,000,000,000,000
billion kilograms
Thank you for watching
I would like to thank you for taking you
time to watch this slide show on Damain
and Jack’s presentation. Thank you very
much and we hope you enjoyed our
powerpoint and feel free to give us any
feed back you would like to give us. After
all, there are many ways we can improve
our presentation. Thanks.
(Total Words: 3,005
Unless I counted wrong!)
Bibliography
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse
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http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/p/Apollo.html
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http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/grecoromanmyth1/p/Apollo.html
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http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/why-sun-is-important
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http://solar.physics.montana.edu/ypop/Spotlight/SunInfo/Core.html