THE SUN

The star we see but seldom notice

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 Goals
• Summarize the overall properties of the Sun.
• What are the different parts of the Sun and
how do we know this?
• Where does the light we see come from?
• Solar activity and magnetic fields.

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 The Sun, Our Star
• The Sun is an average star.
• From the Sun, we base our understanding of
all stars in the Universe.
• Like Jovian Planets it’s a giant ball of gas.
• No solid surface.

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 Vital Statistics
• Radius = 100 x Earth (696,000 km)
• Mass = 300,000 x Earth (1.99 x 1030 kg)
• Surface temp = 5780 K
• Core temp = 15,000,000 K
• Luminosity = 4 x 1026 Watts
• Solar “Day” =
– 24.9 Earth days (equator)
– 29.8 Earth days (poles)

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 Structure
• ‘Surface’
– Photosphere
• ‘Atmosphere’
– Chromosphere
– Transistion zone
– Corona
– Solar wind
• ‘Interior’
– Convection zone
– Radiation zone
– Core
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 The Solar Interior
• How do we know what’s inside the Sun?
• Observe the outside.
• Theorize what happens on the inside.
• Complex computer programs model the
theory.
• Model predicts what will happen on the
outside.
• Compare model prediction with
observations of the outside.
• Scientific Method!
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 Helioseismology
• Continuous monitoring
of Sun.
– Ground based
observatories
– One spacecraft (SOHO)
• Surface of the Sun is
‘ringing’
• Sound waves cross the
the solar interior and
reflect off of the surface
(photosphere).
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 Interior Properties
• Core = 20 x density of iron
• Surface = 10,000 x less dense
than air
• Average density = Jupiter

• Core = 15,000,000 K
• Surface = 5780 K

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 Do you see the light?
• Everything in the solar system reflects light.
• Everything also absorbs light and heats up
producing blackbody radiation.
• Q: Where does this light come from?
• A: The Sun.

• But where does the Sun’s light come from?

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 Our Journey through the Sun
• Journey from the Sun’s core to the edge of its
‘atmosphere.’
• See where its light originates.
• See what the different regions of the Sun are
like.
• See how energy in the core makes it to the
light we see on Earth.

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 In The Core

• Density = 20 x
density of Iron
• Temperature =
15,000,000 K
• Hydrogen
atoms fuse
together
• Create Helium
atoms.

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 Nuclear Fusion
• 4H  He
• The mass of 4 H atoms:
4 x (1.674 x10-27 kg) = 6.694 x 10-27 kg
• The mass of He atom: = 6.646 x 10-27 kg
• Where does the extra 4.8 x 10-29 kg go?
• ENERGY!  E = mc
• E = (4.8 x 10-29 kg ) x (3.0 x 108 m/s)2
• E = hc/   = 4.6 x 10-14 m (gamma rays)
• So: 4H  He + light!
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 The Radiation Zone
• This region is transparent to light.
• Why?
– At the temperatures near the core all atoms are
ionized.
– Electrons float freely from nuclei
– If light wave hits atom, no electron to absorb it.
• So: Light and atoms don’t interact.
• Energy is passed from core, through this
region, and towards surface by radiation.
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 The Convection Zone
• This region is totally opaque to light.
• Why?
– Closer to surface, the temperature is cooler.
– Atoms are no longer ionized.
– Electrons around nuclei can absorb light from below.
• No light from core ever reaches the surface!
• But where does the energy in the light go?
• Energy instead makes it to the surface by
convection.

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 Convection
• A pot of boiling water:
• Hot material rises.
• Cooler material sinks.
• The energy from the pot’s hot bottom is
physically carried by the convection cells in
the water to the surface.
• Same for the Sun.

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Solar Cross-Section

• Progressively smaller
convection cells carry the
energy towards surface.
• See tops of these cells as
granules.
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 The Photosphere
• This is the origin of the 5800 K blackbody
radiation we see.
• Why?
– At the photosphere, the density is so low that the gas
is again transparent to light.
– The hot convection cell tops radiate energy as a
function of their temperature (5800 K).
 = k/T = k/(5800 K)   = 480 nm (visible light)
• This is the light we see.
• That’s why we see this as the surface.
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 The Solar Atmosphere

• Above the photosphere, transparent to light.

• Unlike radiative zone, here atoms not totally
ionized.
• Therefore, there are electrons in atoms able to
absorb light.
• Absorption lines in solar spectrum are from
these layers in the atmosphere.

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Atmospheric Composition
• Probably same
as interior.
• Same as seen
on Jupiter.
• Same as the
rest of the
Universe.

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The Chromosphere
• Very low density
• But also very hot
• Same as the gas tubes we saw
in class and lab.
• Energy from below excites
the atoms and produces
emission from this layer.
• Predominant element –
Hydrogen.
• Brightest hydrogen line – H.
• Chromosphere = color
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 Spicules and
Prominences
• Emission from the
atmosphere is very faint
relative to photosphere.
• Violent storms in the
Chromosphere.
• Giant curved
prominances
• Long thin spicules.

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Prominences

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 H Sun

Photo by Robert Gendler 7A

 Corona
• Spicules and other magnetic activity carry
energy up to the Transition Zone.
• 10,000 km above photosphere.
– Temperature climbs to 1,000,000 K
– Remember photosphere is only 5800 K
• The hot, low density, gas at this altitude emits
the radiation we see as the Corona.

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 The X-Ray
Sun
• Q: At 1,000,000 K
where does a
blackbody spectrum
have its peak?
• A: X-rays
• Can monitor the Solar
Coronasphere in the
X-ray spectrum.
• Monitor Coronal
Holes

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 Solar Wind
• At and above the corona:
• Gas is very hot
• Very energetic
• Like steam above our boiling pot of water, the
gas ‘evaporates’.
• Wind passes out through Coronal Holes
• Solar Wind carries away a million tons of
Sun’s mass each second!
• Only 0.1% of total Sun’s mass in last 4.6
billion years.
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 The Aurora
• The solar wind passes
out through the Solar
System.
• Consists of electrons,
protons and other
charged particles
stripped from the
Sun’s surface.
• Interaction with
planetary magnetic
fields gives rise to the
aurora.
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 The Active Sun
• Solar luminosity is nearly constant.
• Very slight fluctuations.
• 11-year cycle of activity.

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 Solar Cycle
• Increase in Coronal holes
• Increase in solar wind activity
- Coronal Mass Ejections
• Increase in Auroral displays on Earth
• Increase in disruptions on and around Earth.

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• 11-year sunspot cycle.
• Center – Umbra: 4500 K
• Edge – Penumbra: 5500 K
Sunspots
• Photosphere: 5800 K

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• Can see that Sun
doesn’t rotate as
a solid body?
• Equator rotates
faster.
• This differential
rotation leads to
complications in
the Solar
magnetic field.

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 Magnetic fields and Sunspots

• At kinks, disruption in convection cells.

• Sunspots form.
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Magnetic fields and Sunspots
• Sunspots
come in pairs.
• Opposite
orientation in
North and
South.
• Every other
cycle the
magnetic
fields switch.

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Sunspot Numbers

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 Active Regions
• Areas around sunspots give rise to the
prominences

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