Basic Sun Facts
The sun is a...
How many layers does the sun have?
6
The sun is made up of ______.
Hydrogen (H) and Helium (He) gas!
Violent eruption of radiation and particles from the sun’s surface that is associated with sunspots
What are Solar Flares
The combining of nuclei into heavier nuclei; occurs in the core of the Sun where temperatures and pressure are extremely high
What is Fusion
How old is the sun?
about 5 billion years old
This is the outer most layer of the sun. It ranges between temperatures from 3,000,000 – 5,000,000 K
The Corona
The hottest part inside the sun is called the _______.
The Core
Dark spots on the surface of the Sun; occurs in pairs
What are Sun Spots
The splitting atomic atoms into smaller atoms
What is Fission
End of life on Earth.
This layer produces all of the energy in the sun.
The Core
Nuclear Fusion happens in the _______.
Core
Solar Prominence
Sunspots are caused by
What are magnetic fields.
The sun is made of GAS. What two gases is it mostly made up of?
Hydrogen & Helium
This is the layer of the sun that we can see from Earth. It has an average temperature of 5,800 K.
The Photosphere
____________ ____________ is when 4 hydrogen atoms smash together and create helium. This creates the light, heat & energy that eventually travels to us on Earth.
nuclear fusion
This part of the surface creates Auroras on Earth.
They are charged particles (ions) that flows through the solar system and begins as gas flowing outward from the Sun’s corona at high speeds
What are Solar Winds
All of the gases are completely ionized and exist in a state of matter called p
What is plasma
How far from Earth is the Sun?
93,000,000 miles (93 million miles)
Name all 6 layers of the sun IN ORDER from the inside to the outside.
Core, Radiation Zone, Convection Zone, Photosphere, Chromosphere, Corona.
This is the part of the inside of the sun that energy travels through after the core. It is VERY tightly packed (like a stuffed suitcase)
Radiation zone (radiative zone)
What is the difference between solar flares and solar prominence?
Solar prominence is a loop of fiery gas, while solar flares is a straight line of fire
This is the changes in the number of sunspots is cyclic.
What is the Solar activity cycle
Why does the earth revolve around the sun?
The suns gravity pulls the earth towards itself. The Earth pulls back and they begin a "tug of war"
The layer of the Sun’s atmosphere above the photosphere and below the corona that is 2,500 km thick and has a temperature around 30,000 K
What is the Chromosphere:
Bubbles of highly charged particles from the corona.
What are coronal mass ejections (CME)
Why DOESN'T the earth fall right into the sun if the sun is so much more powerful?
The massive sun pulls on the earth, but the earth also tries to pull back
CMEs can interrupt
What are radio communication and electrical power.