The Sun

Characteristics of the Sun

1.The Sun is a star.It is the nearest star to the Earth. 2.The Sun is the centre of the Solar System 3.It is the biggest object in Solar System. 4.It has a large force of gravity because of its big mass. 5.The force of gravity causes the planets and asteroids in the Solar System to orbit around it.

Observation data Data concerning the Sun Age Distance from the Earth Composition Size About 5 000 million years old 145 497 870 km 90% hydrogen,8% helium.2% other gases About 1 400 000 km in diameter About 100xsize of the Earth 300 000xmass of the Earth 0.27xdensity of the Earth 28xgravity of the Earth 6 000C 15 000 000C Rotates on its axis from west to east:takes about 25 days per rotation

Mass Density Force of gravity Surface temperature Core temperature Rotation

Structure of the Sun

An illustration of the structure of the Sun: 1. Core 2. Radiative zone 3. Convective zone 4. Photosphere 5. Chromosphere 6. Corona 7. Sunspot 8. Granules 9. Prominence

1.The corona (a)The corona is the outermost layer of the Suns atmosphere.It is actually a layer of gas boiled off from the Sun. (b)The corona extends for thousands kilometers in outer space. (c)It is the hottest layer of gas in the Suns atmosphere,with a temperature of about 1 500 000C. (d)The corona is a faint whitish blue region and can only be seen during an eclipse of the Sun (e)The corona gives out X-rays.

2.The Chromosphere
(a)The chromospheres is a layer of gas below the corona. (b)Chromosphere means a sphere of colour,so called because of its reddish-pink colour.

(c)This layer of gas is about 50 000 km thick. (d)Its temperature can rise as high as 50 000C. (e)It can only be seen during an eclipse of the Sun because it is not bright. (f)During a solar eclipse,this layer appear reddish.

3.The Photosphere
(a)The photosphere is a layer of heavy gas which can be seen from the Earth as a bright lighted surface. (b)Photosphere means a sphere of light. (c)The photosphere has a temperature of about 6 000C (d)It is around 400km thick. (e)Its surface appears very rough because the gases from the core bubble through it. (f)Solar flares,prominences and sunspots erupt from its surface.

4.The Core
(a)The core is made up of hydrogen and helium under high pressure. (b)The core is the hottest part of the Sun with a temperature of about 15 000 000C.

(c)Thermonuclear reactions which are continuously going on in the core generate the Suns heat and light.

Phenomena on the Suns surface.

1.Phenomena occuring on the Suns surface are: (a)sunspots (b)flares (c)prominences

2.Sunspots
(a)Sunspots are dark areas on the surface of the Sun. (b)These areas are dark because they are cooler than the other parts of the Suns surface. (c)Sunspots will disappear after several hours or several weeks. (d)They are caused by magnetic fields which slow down the emission of heat from the core of the Sun. (e)They are of different sizes and some may have diameters of several thousand kilometers. (f)They usually occur in pairs. (g)They appear to move across the Suns surface because the Sun in rotating from west to east. (h)They are caused by magnetic disturbances deep inside the Sun.These disturbances can cause changes in the Earths climate.

3.Flares
(a)Solar flares are burst of light from the Suns surface.

(b)They give out a lot of energy although they last from several minutes to several hours only. (c)They can reach a temperature of 5 000 000C. (d)They also release charged particles into outer space,and some of these particles reach the Earth.

4.Prominences
(a)Prominences are clouds of burning hydrogen and helium exploding from the Suns surface. (b)These clouds of hot gases appear bright red and curved,and may reach a height of more than 100 000 kilometres. (c)They can have a temperature of 10 000C. (d)The hot gases cool down after some time and are pulled back to the Sun by the Suns gravity.At the same time some of the gases escape into outer space. (e)The gases which escape into outer space form the solar wind. (f)The solar wind causes the tail of a comet to point away from the Sun.

Prominence on the Suns surface

Effects of Sunspots,Flares and Prominences on the Earth.

1.Sunspots,flares and prominences on the Suns surface radiate X-rays,ultraviolet rays,the solar wind and charged electric particles into outer space. 2.Some of these rays and charged particles reach the Earth and have effect on the Earth.

3.These rays and charged particles influence the weather and climate on the Earth.It is believed that a large number of sunspots on the Suns surface can cause disturbing weather conditions on the Earth. 4.The electrically charged particles will collide with the particles in the Earths atmosphere and cause radio and television interfence. 5.The electrically charged particles are deflected by the Earths magnetic field towards the north and the south poles.This produces green,yellow and red coloured lights in the sky near the poles at night.These olourd lights are called aurorae.

Generation of energy.
1.The Sun is the source of energy for the entire Solar System. 2.Energy is generated by thermonuclear reactions in the core of the sun where the temperature and the pressure are extremely high.

3.During thermonuclear reactions n the core of the Sun,light hydrogen atoms combine to form heavier helium atoms with the release of large quantities of heat energy and light energy. 4.The temperature reached in this reaction is about 15 000 000C. 5. The energy generated in the reaction is brought from the core to the surface of the Sun by radiation and convection. 6.Most of the energy radiated from the Sun is in the form of heat and light.Only a fraction of the heat and light reaches the Earth. 7.When all the hydrogen in the Sun is used up,the Sun will become a small quiet object in outer space.

Life cycle
The Sun was formed about 4.57 billion years ago when a hydrogen molecular cloud collapsed. Solar formation is dated in two ways: the Sun's current main sequence age, determined using computer models of stellar evolution and nucleocosmochronology, is thought to be about 4.57 billion years.[86] This is in close accord with the radiometric date of the oldest Solar System material, at 4.567 billion years ago.

The Sun is about halfway through its main-sequence evolution, during which nuclear fusion reactions in its core fuse hydrogen into helium. Each second, more than four million metric tons of matter are converted into energy within the Sun's core, producing neutrinos and solar radiation. At this rate, the Sun has so far converted around 100 Earth-masses of matter into energy. The Sun will spend a total of approximately 10 billion years as a main sequence star. The Sun does not have enough mass to explode as a supernova. Instead, in about 5 billion years, it will enter a red giant phase, its outer layers expanding as the hydrogen fuel in the core is consumed and the core contracts and heats up. Helium fusion will begin when the core temperature reaches around 100 million kelvins and will produce carbon, entering the asymptotic giant branch phase.

Life-cycle of the Sun Earth's fate is precarious. As a red giant, the Sun will have a maximum radius beyond the Earth's current orbit, 1 AU (1.51011 m), 250 times the present radius of the Sun. However, by the time it is an asymptotic giant branch star, the Sun will have lost roughly 30% of its present mass due to a stellar wind, so the orbits of the planets will move outward. If it were only for this, Earth would probably be spared, but new research suggests that Earth will be swallowed by the Sun owing to tidal interactions.Even if Earth would escape incineration in the Sun, still all its water will be boiled away and most of its atmosphere would escape into space. Even during its current life in the main sequence, the Sun is gradually becoming more luminous (about 10% every 1 billion years), and its surface temperature is slowly rising. The Sun used to be fainter in the past, which is possibly the reason life on Earth has only existed for about 1 billion years on land. The increase in solar temperatures is such that already in about a billion years, the surface of the Earth will become too hot for liquid water to exist, ending all terrestrial life.

Following the red giant phase, intense thermal pulsations will cause the Sun to throw off its outer layers, forming a planetary nebula. The only object that will remain after the outer layers are ejected is the extremely hot stellar core, which will slowly cool and fade as a white dwarf over many billions of years. This stellar evolution scenario is typical of low- to medium-mass stars.

Sunlight
Sunlight is Earth's primary source of energy. The solar constant is the amount of power that the Sun deposits per unit area that is directly exposed to sunlight. The solar constant is equal to approximately 1,368 W/m2 (watts per square meter) at a distance of one astronomical unit (AU) from the Sun (that is, on or near Earth).Sunlight on the surface of Earth is attenuated by the Earth's atmosphere so that less power arrives at the surfacecloser to 1,000 W/m2 in clear conditions when the Sun is near the zenith. Solar energy can be harnessed by a variety of natural and synthetic processesphotosynthesis by plants captures the energy of sunlight and converts it to chemical form (oxygen and reduced carbon compounds), while direct heating or electrical conversion by solar cells are used by solar power equipment to generate electricity or to do other useful work, sometimes employing concentrating solar power (that it is measured in suns). The energy stored in petroleum and other fossil fuels was originally converted from sunlight by photosynthesis in the distant past.

N EW P HENOMENA

ON THE

S UN

March 21, 2007: It's enough to make you leap out of your seat: A magnetic vortex almost as big as Earth races across your computer screen, twisting, turning, finally erupting in a powerful solar flare. Japan's Hinode spacecraft recorded just such a blast on Jan. 12, 2007.

Above: A solar flare in the chromosphere, recorded by JAXA's Hinode spacecraft on Jan. 12, 2007. Chromosphere means "sphere of color." It's the name astronomers of the 19th century gave to a narrow and very red layer of the sun's atmosphere they saw peeking over the edge of the Moon during solar eclipses. The color comes from the chromosphere's abundant hydrogen which emits light at a wavelength of 6563 Angstroms, also known as "hydrogen alpha" light. Hinode's telescope is equipped with filters tuned to this specific color. Right: The chromosphere, viewed the old-fashioned way during a solar eclipse. Photo credit: Vic and Jen Winter. The view from space is impressive. Visually, the chromosphere resembles a shag carpet with threads of magnetism jutting up from the floor below. Hinode's movies show the threads swaying back and forth as if blown by a gentle breeze. There is nothing gentle, however, about "spicules" shooting into the chromosphere from the underlying photosphere. "These are jets of gas as big as Texas," says Davis. "They rise and fall on time scales of 10 minutes." And then there are the explosions.The fact that Hinode is able to observe solar flares taking place in the chromosphere is very important.

The origin of solar flares is a mystery. Researchers have long known that flares develop from magnetic instabilities near sunspots, but even after centuries of studying sunspots, no one can predict exactly when a flare is about to happen. This is a problem for NASA because astronauts in space are vulnerable to intense radiation and high-energy particles produced by the explosions. An accurate system of forecasting would help explorers stay out of harm's way. Hinode may be looking right into the genesis zone of flares. If so, "it could teach us how flares work and improve our ability to predict them."

H ELIOPHYSICS

We live in the extended atmosphere of an active star. While sunlight enables and sustains life, the Sun's variability produces streams of high energy particles and radiation that can harm life or alter its evolution. Under the protective shield of a magnetic field and atmosphere, the Earth is an island in the Universe where life has developed and flourished. The origins and fate of life on Earth are intimately connected to the way the Earth responds to the Sun's variations. Understanding the Sun, Heliosphere, and Planetary Environments as a single connected system is the goal of the Science Mission Directorate's Heliophysics Research Program. In addition to solar processes, our domain of study includes the interaction of solar plasma and radiation with Earth, the other planets, and the Galaxy. By analyzing the connections between the Sun, solar wind, planetary space environments, and our place in the Galaxy, we are uncovering the

fundamental physical processes that occur throughout the Universe. Understanding the connections between the Sun and its planets will allow us to predict the impacts of solar variability on humans, technological systems, and even the presence of life itself. We have already discovered ways to peer into the internal workings of the Sun and understand how the Earth's magnetosphere responds to solar activity. Our challenge now is to explore the full system of complex interactions that characterize the relationship of the Sun with the solar system. Understanding these connections is especially critical as we contemplate our destiny in the third millennium. Heliophysics is needed to facilitate the accelerated expansion of human experience beyond the confines of our Earthly home. Recent advances in technology allow us, for the first time, to realistically contemplate voyages beyond the solar system.

Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Gurun

The Sun

Group member:Nor Zarifah Bt Dee Nurul Jasmine Bt Hj Shuib Siti Nur Aliya Bt Mohd.Johari Nur Shuhada Bt Harris Rizal

Theoretical problems
Solar neutrino problem
For many years the number of solar electron neutrinos detected on Earth was 13 to 12 of the number predicted by the standard solar model. This anomalous result was termed the solar neutrino problem. Theories proposed to resolve the problem either tried to reduce the

temperature of the Sun's interior to explain the lower neutrino flux, or posited that electron neutrinos could oscillatethat is, change into undetectable tau and muon neutrinos as they traveled between the Sun and the Earth.Several neutrino observatories were built in the 1980s to measure the solar neutrino flux as accurately as possible, including the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory and Kamiokande.Results from these observatories eventually led to the discovery that neutrinos have a very small rest mass and do indeed oscillate. Moreover, in 2001 the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory was able to detect all three types of neutrinos directly, and found that the Sun's total neutrino emission rate agreed with the Standard Solar Model, although depending on the neutrino energy as few as one-third of the neutrinos seen at Earth are of the electron type. This proportion agrees with that predicted by the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effect (also known as the matter effect), which describes neutrino oscillation in matter, and it is now considered a solved problem.

Coronal heating problem

The optical surface of the Sun (the photosphere) is known to have a temperature of approximately 6,000 K. Above it lies the solar corona, rising to a temperature of 1 million2 million K. The high temperature of the corona shows that it is heated by something other than direct heat conduction from the photosphere. It is thought that the energy necessary to heat the corona is provided by turbulent motion in the convection zone below the photosphere, and two main mechanisms have been proposed to explain coronal heating. The first is wave heating, in which sound, gravitational or magnetohydrodynamic waves are produced by turbulence in the convection zone. These waves travel upward and dissipate in the corona, depositing their energy in the ambient gas in the form of heat. The other is magnetic heating, in which magnetic energy is continuously built up by photospheric motion and released through magnetic reconnection in the form of large solar flares and myriad similar but smaller eventsnanoflares. Currently, it is unclear whether waves are an efficient heating mechanism. All waves except Alfvn waves have been found to dissipate or refract before reaching the corona. In addition, Alfvn waves do not easily dissipate in the corona. Current research focus has therefore shifted towards flare heating mechanisms.

Faint young Sun problem

Theoretical models of the Sun's development suggest that 3.8 to 2.5 billion years ago, during the Archean period, the Sun was only about 75% as bright as it is today. Such a weak star would not have been able to sustain liquid water on the Earth's surface, and thus life should not have been able to develop. However, the geological record demonstrates that the Earth has remained at a

fairly constant temperature throughout its history, and that the young Earth was somewhat warmer than it is today. The consensus among scientists is that the young Earth's atmosphere contained much larger quantities of greenhouse gases (such as carbon dioxide, methane and/or ammonia) than are present today, which trapped enough heat to compensate for the smaller amount of solar energy reaching the planet.

Observation and effects

The Sun as it appears from the surface of Earth Sunlight is very bright, and looking directly at the Sun with the naked eye for brief periods can be painful, but is not particularly hazardous for normal, non-dilated eyes.Looking directly at the Sun causes phosphene visual artifacts and temporary partial blindness. It also delivers about 4 milliwatts of sunlight to the retina, slightly heating it and potentially causing damage in eyes that cannot respond properly to the brightness.UV exposure gradually yellows the lens of the eye over a period of years and is thought to contribute to the formation of cataracts, but this depends on general exposure to solar UV, not on whether one looks directly at the Sun.Long-duration viewing of the direct Sun with the naked eye can begin to cause UV-induced, sunburn-like lesions on the retina after about 100 seconds, particularly under conditions where the UV light from the Sun is intense and well focused;conditions are worsened by young eyes or new lens implants (which admit more UV than aging natural eyes), Sun angles near the zenith, and observing locations at high altitude. Viewing the Sun through light-concentrating optics such as binoculars is very hazardous without an appropriate filter that blocks UV and substantially dims the sunlight. An attenuating (ND) filter might not filter UV and so is still dangerous. Attenuating filters to view the Sun should be specifically designed for that use: some improvised filters pass UV or IR rays that can harm the eye at high brightness levels.Unfiltered binoculars can deliver over 500 times as much energy to the retina as using the naked eye, killing retinal cells almost instantly (even though the power per unit area of image on the retina is the same, the heat cannot dissipate fast enough because the image is larger). Even brief glances at the midday Sun through unfiltered binoculars can cause permanent blindness. Partial solar eclipses are hazardous to view because the eye's pupil is not adapted to the unusually high visual contrast: the pupil dilates according to the total amount of light in the field of view, not by the brightest object in the field. During partial eclipses most sunlight is blocked

by the Moon passing in front of the Sun, but the uncovered parts of the photosphere have the same surface brightness as during a normal day. In the overall gloom, the pupil expands from ~2 mm to ~6 mm, and each retinal cell exposed to the solar image receives about ten times more light than it would looking at the non-eclipsed Sun. This can damage or kill those cells, resulting in small permanent blind spots for the viewer.[168] The hazard is insidious for inexperienced observers and for children, because there is no perception of pain: it is not immediately obvious that one's vision is being destroyed. During sunrise and sunset sunlight is attenuated due to Rayleigh scattering and Mie scattering from a particularly long passage through Earth's atmosphere,and the Sun is sometimes faint enough to be viewed comfortably with the naked eye or safely with optics (provided there is no risk of bright sunlight suddenly appearing through a break between clouds). Hazy conditions, atmospheric dust, and high humidity contribute to this atmospheric attenuation. A rare optical phenomenon may occur shortly after sunset or before sunrise, known as a green flash. The flash is caused by light from the Sun just below the horizon being bent (usually through a temperature inversion) towards the observer. Light of shorter wavelengths (violet, blue, green) is bent more than that of longer wavelengths (yellow, orange, red) but the violet and blue light is scattered more, leaving light that is perceived as green. Ultraviolet light from the Sun has antiseptic properties and can be used to sanitize tools and water. It also causes sunburn, and has other medical effects such as the production of vitamin D. Ultraviolet light is strongly attenuated by Earth's ozone layer, so that the amount of UV varies greatly with latitude and has been partially responsible for many biological adaptations, including variations in human skin color in different regions of the globe.

Terminology
Like other natural phenomena, the Sun has been an object of veneration in many cultures throughout human history, and was the source of the word Sunday.

The Sun has no official name according to the International Astronomical Union, the body responsible for naming celestial objects. The name Sol is accepted but not commonly used; the adjectival form is the related word solar. "Sol" is the modern word for "Sun" in many other languages. The term sol is also used by planetary astronomers to refer to the duration of a solar day on another planet, such as Mars. A mean Earth solar day is approximately 24 hours, while a mean Martian sol, is 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds. In East Asia, the Sun is represented by the symbol (Chinese pinyin r or Japanese nichi) or (simplified)/(traditional) (pinyin tiyng or Japanese taiy). In Vietnamese, these Han words are called nht and thi dng respectively, while the native Vietnamese word mt tri literally means "face of the heavens". The Moon and the Sun are associated with the yin and yang where the Moon represents yin and the Sun yang as dynamic opposites.