BASIC SUN FACTS
This term describes the Sun as a huge, glowing sphere of hot plasma.
What is a star?
This central region is where all the Sun’s energy is made.
What is the core?
This element makes up around 74% of the Sun.
What is hydrogen?
These dark, cooler patches show the Sun’s magnetic activity.
What are sunspots?
This is the Sun's main source of visible light.
What is the photosphere?
This phrase means the Sun is in its long, stable life stage.
What is main-sequence?
This layer transports energy through radiation, not convection.
What is the radiative zone?
The Sun fuses four hydrogen nuclei into this heavier element.
What is helium?
This violent event releases huge bursts of energy and radiation.
What is a solar flare?
This is the time light takes to travel from Sun to Earth.
What is 8 minutes and 20 seconds?
This measurement is used for the Sun’s mass: 1.99 × 10³⁰ kg.
What is one solar mass?
This churning layer uses hot rising gas to move energy outward.
What is the convective zone?
This equation explains how lost mass becomes sunlight energy.
What is E = mc²?
These massive plasma loops follow strong magnetic field lines.
What are prominences?
This term describes how photons slowly drift outward for millions of years.
What is radiative diffusion?
This law explains why the Sun stays round, with gravity pulling inward.
What is hydrostatic equilibrium?
This thin, glowing layer is the one we actually see.
What is the photosphere?
This process powers the Sun: small atoms forming bigger ones.
What is nuclear fusion?
This giant burst of plasma can disrupt Earth’s satellites and power grids.
What is a coronal mass ejection (CME)?
This phenomenon causes the Sun to appear red at sunrise and sunset.
What is atmospheric scattering?
This is the approximate age of the Sun in billions of years.
What is 4.6 billion years?
These two outer layers produce the Sun’s mysterious reddish glow and solar wind.
What are the chromosphere and corona?
This term describes the precise sequence of reactions that turn hydrogen into helium in the Sun.
What is the proton–proton chain?
This ∼11-year cycle controls when the Sun is calm or chaotic.
What is the solar cycle?
This law states that hotter objects emit more energy at every wavelength.
What is the Stefan-Boltzmann law?