The sun is our local star

The sun is our local star At the center of our solar system is a star called the Sun. It is the only star in the solar system. It contains most of the mass in the solar system (99.9%). It is primarily made of hydrogen. Energy is produced when hydrogen in the Sun’s core fuses into helium.

WHY IS THE SUN IMPORTANT? The Sun is very important for us because the energy that it produces is the source of light ad warmth that make life possible on Earth.

Energy flows through the Sun’s layers. The Sun’s interior consists of the core, the radiative zone, and the convection zone.

Core In the core, hydrogen particles collide and combine to form helium in a process called fusion. The energy travels outward through the layers of the Sun.

Radiative Zone Energy moves through the radiative zone by radiation. This thick layer is hot and dense but not to the extent necessary for fusion to occur.

Convection Zone Here energy moves mainly by convection which is the transfer of energy from place to place by the motion of heated gas or liquid.

The Sun has an atmosphere!! The Sun’s atmosphere contains the photosphere, the chromosphere, and the corona. The layers of the Suns atmosphere are less dense than the interior. The atmosphere generally becomes hotter and less dense as you move outward.

Photosphere Did you know that it only takes about 8 minutes for visible light to get from the Sun to Earth!~! The visible light is moved via radiation. The photosphere is often called the Suns surface because it is the layer you can see in photos.

chromosphere This is the thin middle layer of the Sun’s atmosphere. It gives off a pinkish light.

corona This is the Sun’s outermost layer. It actually extewnds outwards several million kilometers (far huh!!) Like the chromosphere, you can actually only see the light of the corona when there is a total eclipse of the Sun (when the Moon blocks the much brighter light of the photosphere). Funny point: it may not be that bright compared to the photosphere but it is ALOT hotter!!!

The Sun has some unusual features The Sun has some unusual features. Sunspots, flares and prominences are some of them.

sunspots They are spots on the photosphere that are cooler than surrounding areas. They seem dark but they are actually really bright, it’s just that the rest of the photosphere is even brighter!! They move across the Sun’s surface as it rotates following a pattern that lasts around 11 years.

flares These are eruptions of hot gas from the Sun’s surface. They usually occur near sunspots.

prominences These are huge loops of glowing gas that extend into the corona. You get prominences in the places where magnetic fields connecting sunspots soar into the outer atmosphere.

Solar wind Solar wind, which is a stream of electrically charged particles, flows outward in all directions from the corona to all parts of the solar system. The energy from solar-wind particles produces light displays, called auroras, in the skies over the polar regions.

Did you know Solar wind can damage satellites and is dangerous for astronauts during space flights!!

Thanks goodness for earth’s magnetic field!!!