Thursday, May 23, 2013

Complete Education About The Sun

By Haywood Hunter


The Sun is the biggest star that can be found amongst the solar system. It is so big to the point that it contains about 98 percent of the entire mass in the solar system. It rotates about 25 days around the equator, and 36 days around the poles.

The Sun's diameter is about one million three hundred and ninety two thousand km, and about one hundred and nine times the size of Earth put together. A three quarter of it is comprised of hydrogen mass with the remaining components being helium and other gases. Studies show that it orbits about twenty five thousand light years from the galactic core and completes a revolution once in every two hundred and fifty million years.

The inner part of the Sun is made up of a Core, Convective and Radiative zones. The centre is known as the core and this is the place where energy is formed through a process called nuclear fusion. When the energy emanates from the core, it is moved to the nearest part which is the Radiative zone. The Radiative zone is cooler and makes up about 85 percent of the Sun's radius.

The Convective zone is next to the Radiative zone and occupies a space of up to 15 percent of the Sun's surface. The energy coming from the innermost part is moved here through stages called convection.

The outer visible layer is referred to as Photosphere with a temperature of six thousand degrees Celsius. This outer layer looks mottled because of the turbulence of energy eruptions at the surface.

The photosphere is made up of photons that break out into the surface, and that is why it's called the Sun's surface. It has a thickness of about five hundred kilometer, and cannot be seen using the bare eyes. It is gassy in nature and hot.

Next to the Photosphere is a region called the Chromosphere. The energy emanating from the core, passes through all the way to the Chromosphere. The hydrogen clouds forming at the top is called Faculae and makes sunspot directly at the top.

Studies show that the Sun has been active for the past 4.6 billion years and will keep burning for another five billion years or more. It also indicates that the Sun will start fusing helium at the end of its life into heavier elements and start to swell and grow so large to swallow the Earth. It will collapse after a billion years to what is known as white dwarf, and may take up to a trillion years to completely cool off and fade into what is called a black dwarf.




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