The Dangers of Solar Storms and Solar Cycles

 Radius = 696,000 km  Mass = 2E30 kg  Luminosity = 3.8E26 W  Rotation Rate  25 days at the equator and 30 days at the poles  Surface Temp  5,800 K average, 4,000 K sunspots (Ref 1)

 Nuclear fusion is the source of all the energy released by the sun  Steady fusion rates maintain a steady luminosity  Hydrogen fusion is the primary mechanism ▪ P-P chain ▪ CNO cycle (Content: Ref 13) (Image: Ref 10)

 For every 1 million atoms of hydrogen in the entire sun  98,000 atoms of helium  850 of oxygen  360 of carbon  120 of neon  110 of nitrogen  40 of magnesium  35 of silicon  35 of iron (Content: Ref 13) (Image: Ref 11)

 Plasma  Gas whose temperature is so hot it becomes sensitive to magnetism  Ionized due to high temperatures  Most energy is lost to electromagnetic radiation  Visible light  Infrared (Ref 13)

 Particle radiation also emits energy  Flares and coronal mass ejections release intense concentrations of energetic particles  Hazardous to astronauts in orbit and satellites (Content: Ref 13) (Image: Ref 12)

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5. Phillips, Tony. “Solar Storm Warning.” NASA. 15 March, October, ng.html 6. Odenwald, Sten. “Solar Storms.” Washington Post. 10 March, October, idx.html 7. “STEREO - Solar TErrestrial RElations Observatory.” NASA. 25 September, December, Roth, M. “Future missions for helioseismology.” Modern Solar Facilities – Advanced Solar Science, 85–88. 4 December, Sep-2007

9. Phillips, Tony PhD “Who’s Afraid of a Solar Flare?” NASA Science. October ve_star_struct.jpg ve_star_struct.jpg html Sep-2007