Download 14.2 The Sun

The Sun
Closest Star to Earth
Characteristics of the Sun

Size
– The sun measures 1.4 million kilometers
across. 110 times bigger than Earth’s
diameter!
Characteristics of the Sun

Atmosphere
– The Sun’s atmosphere consists of 92.1%
hydrogen gas and 7.8% helium with traces of
other elements.
Characteristics of the Sun

Layers of the Sun’s Atmosphere
– The Core
 Where nuclear fusion
(hydrogen squeezed
together to make helium)
takes place.
– Photosphere
 The layer that makes the
light we see from Earth
– Chromosphere
 Gives the sun its color
– Corona (Crown)
 The white halo that
surrounds the sun
Characteristics of the Sun

Features on the Sun’s
Surface
– Sunspots
 Darker, cooler areas on
the Sun’s surface
– Prominences
 Reddish loops of gas
that link sunspots
– Solar Flares
 Prominences that collide
and create an explosion
of hydrogen gas
Objects That Go Around the Sun

Satellites
– The Sun has eight satellites called planets. These include
Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and
Neptune.

Other Objects that Orbit the Sun
– Asteroids
 Located Between Mars and Jupiter
– Comets
 Chunks of ice and dust that orbit the Sun in elliptical (oval) orbits
– Dwarf Planets
 Small planets like Pluto and Charon.
Sun Fun Facts
The sun makes up 99.8% of the entire
solar system’s mass.
 The sun has no solid surface, its just a
big ball of glowing gas.

Exploration of the Sun

Transition and
Regional Coronial
Explorer Satellite
– Gathers gamma
ray and x-ray
images of the sun
that are
unattainable from
Earth.
Resources
http://vic.onenation.com.au/global-warming01_files/070907sun.jpg
 http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2004/AmyChan.shtml
 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/
c/c2/Solar_sys.jpg/750px-Solar_sys.jpg
 http://www.lockheedmartin.com/data/assets/4204.jpg
 http://library.thinkquest.org/15215/Facts/index.html
 http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/sun_worldbook.html
 Padilla, Michael (2008). Focus on Physical Science.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey : Prentice Hall.
