SUN BASICS
A star in our solar system made of hot plasma that produces its own energy.
What is the Sun?
The process that powers the Sun by combining atomic nuclei.
What is nuclear fusion?
The central region where nuclear fusion occurs.
What is the core?
Cooler, darker areas on the Sun caused by strong magnetic fields.
What are sunspots?
The stream of charged particles flowing from the Sun.
What is the solar wind?
The two elements that make up about 99% of the Sun.
What are hydrogen and helium?
The element that is fused together in the Sun’s core.
What is hydrogen?
The zone where energy moves outward as radiation.
What is the radiative zone?
The repeating cycle of increasing and decreasing sunspots.
What is the 11-year sunspot cycle?
Colorful lights near Earth’s poles caused by solar particles.
What are auroras?
A tool scientists use to split light and identify elements in the Sun.
What is a spectroscope?
The element produced after hydrogen nuclei combine.
What is helium?
The zone where hot gas rises and cool gas sinks.
What is the convective zone?
Huge loops of glowing gas that extend from the Sun’s surface.
What are prominences?
The regions where auroras are most commonly seen.
What are the polar regions?
Dark lines in a spectrum that show which elements are present
What are absorption lines?
What happens to some mass during fusion.
What is it is converted into energy?
The visible “surface” layer of the Sun.
What is the photosphere?
Sudden, intense bursts of energy from the Sun’s surface.
What are solar flares?
A system on Earth that can be disrupted by strong solar storms.
What are communication systems or power grids?
The reason scientists can determine the Sun’s composition without going there.
What is analyzing its light (spectrum)?
The subatomic particle released during fusion that can escape the Sun quickly.
What is a neutrino?
The outermost layer of the Sun’s atmosphere and the hottest one.
What is the corona?
Massive eruptions that send large amounts of matter into space.
What are coronal mass ejections?
The invisible shield that protects Earth from most solar wind.
What is the magnetic field?