The Sun

The Sun, vital statistics:

Average distance to earth: 1AU (=1.5 x 108 km)
Average angular diameter: 0.5 degrees
Period of rotation: 25 days (at the equator)
Radius: 7 x 105 km (= 109 R⊕)
Mass: 2 x 1030 kg (= 333,000 M⊕)
Surface temperature: 5800K
Core temperature: 15 million K
Density: 1.4 g/cm3
The Sun, vital statistics:
Average distance to earth: 1AU (=1.5 x 108 km)
Average angular diameter: 0.5 degrees
Period of rotation: 25 days (at the equator)
Radius: 7 x 105 km (= 109 R⊕)
Mass: 2 x 1030 kg (= 333,000 M⊕)
Surface temperature: 5800K
Core temperature: 15 million K
Density: 1.4 g/cm3
1 AU is the average
distance between the
sun and the earth. The
actual distance varies
because the orbit is
elliptical. Earth’s
closest approach to the
sun is called perihelion
and its most distant
point is called aphelion,
although we barely
notice the difference in
the sun’s apparent size.
The Sun, vital statistics:
Average distance to earth: 1AU (=1.5 x 108 km)
Average angular diameter: 0.5 degrees
Period of rotation: 25 days (at the equator)
Radius: 7 x 105 km (= 109 R⊕)
Mass: 2 x 1030 kg (= 333,000 M⊕)
Surface temperature: 5800K
Core temperature: 15 million K
Density: 1.4 g/cm3
The sun and the moon have
almost exactly the same angular
diameter, which allows us to
observe total solar eclipses.
The Sun, vital statistics:
Average distance to earth: 1AU (=1.5 x 108 km)
Average angular diameter: 0.5 degrees
Period of rotation: 25 days (at the equator)
Radius: 7 x 105 km (= 109 R⊕)
Mass: 2 x 1030 kg (= 333,000 M⊕)
Surface temperature: 5800K
Core temperature: 15 million K
Density: 1.4 g/cm3
The sun undergoes
differential rotation, that
is the orbital period is
longer at the poles than at
the equator. The sun’s
rotation stirs up the
ionized plasma from
which it is made, the
motion of which forms a
dynamo and creates a
magnetic field
Differential rotation causes
complex knots and loops to
develop in the magnetic field.
Localized pairs of magnetic
poles can form, showing up as
darker patches called sunspots.
Sunspots are easily seen by projecting
the image of the sun onto a screen and
are about 1500K cooler than the rest of
the surface of the sun. Although they
look small, sunspots are about the size of
the Earth (or larger) and last a few
weeks up to a month or two.
The centre of a sunspot is darker and called the umbra,
whilst the outer region is called the penumbra. Because of
differential rotation, sunspots near the sun’s equator will
have a shorter orbital period than sunspots near the poles.
The number of sunspots is not constant, but varies in an 11
year cycle. Near sunspot minimum, most sunspots are
near the equator, migrating to higher latitudes towards the
maximum. This is represented in a “butterfly” diagram.
At some periods in history the sun spot cycle has apparently broken
down. For example, between 1645 - 1715 there were very few
sunspots observed and very cold winters were experienced. This
period is called the Maunder minimum. Periods of ‘quiet sun’ mean
reduction in other magnetically driven events, such as flares and
prominences.
 Solar prominences can be
seen where ionized material
is flowing along the magnetic
field lines that connect
sunspots.

When magnetic field lines

reconnect (a localized north
pole comes close to a local
south pole) huge amounts of
energy can be released in
solar flares.
As the magnetic field lines
become more and more
tangled as more sunspots
form close to the solar
maximum, the sun actually
reverses its poles! So,
every 11 years or so, the
north and south pole of the
sun change places to ‘iron
out’ the tangled field lines.
Flares are often associated with coronal mass ejections
where large amounts of material are belched out into the
solar wind. There is always a low level solar wind, which
is a steady stream of ionized particles being lost from the
sun. CMEs and flares cause the wind to intensify, which
can result in auroras on Earth.
The earth is mostly
protected from the solar
wind’s barrage of particles
by its magnetic field.
However, some particles get
caught in the field and
channeled towards the
poles, ionizing gas atoms in
the atmosphere and creating
aurora.
The Sun, vital statistics:
Average distance to earth: 1AU (=1.5 x 108 km)
Average angular diameter: 0.5 degrees
Period of rotation: 25 days (at the equator)
Radius: 7 x 105 km (= 109 R⊕)
Mass: 2 x 1030 kg (= 333,000 M⊕)
Surface temperature: 5800K
Core temperature: 15 million K
Density: 1.4 g/cm3
When we look at the sun, we are only seeing photons from its outer
layer, called the photosphere. This is a thin layer, going only 500km
deep. We can’t see deep than this because there is a large amount of
negative hydrogen ions (H-) where a hydrogen atom has captured a
free electron. This ion is easily destroyed by photons, but the process
“uses” up the photons. This means that photons don’t get very far
through the sun’s atmosphere!

Remember, the entire sun is

made of a gas, and this gas
is constantly in motion. We
see granulation on the sun’s
surface where convection
cells are churning up the
photosphere. These
granules can be a significant
fraction of the earth’s size!
Notice that an image of the
sun appears darker at the
edges than in the centre, this
effect is called limb
darkening.

This effect can be

explained by the
different layers of the
sun we are able to see
at different locations
across its face.
Above the photosphere is the chromosphere, a less dense
layer that extends about half the size of the earth into the
sun’s atmosphere. We can only see this faint low density
gas during a solar eclipse.

“Chromo” is Greek for colour,

and indeed the hydrogen
Balmer lines give this hot,
diffuse, excited gas a pink
colour.
Almost immediately, the chromosphere gets hotter as
you extend further into the sun’s atmosphere. The
corona is the outermost part of the atmosphere and also
the hottest with a temperature of ~1 million degrees.
Just like the
chromosphere, we
only get a good
view of the corona
during solar
eclipses.
However, because
the corona is so
hot, it does not
emit most of its
light in the optical
part of the
electromagnetic
spectrum.
This picture of the sun was taken in the far ultra-violet.
At what wavelength does the corona emit most of its light,
if its temperature is 1 million degrees? Recall Wien’s law:

λmax = 3000,000
T

So for T=1000,000 K:
λmax = 3000,000 = 3 nm
1000,000

This is in the X-ray part of the

electromagnetic spectrum, even more
energetic than the UV. Here is a
picture of the sun taken in X-rays:
The Sun, vital statistics:
Average distance to earth: 1AU (=1.5 x 108 km)
Average angular diameter: 0.5 degrees
Period of rotation: 25 days (at the equator)
Radius: 7 x 105 km (= 109 R⊕)
Mass: 2 x 1030 kg (= 333,000 M⊕)
Surface temperature: 5800K
Core temperature: 15 million K
Density: 1.4 g/cm3
However, the hottest part of the sun is its core. This is
where the nuclear fusion reactions that fuel the sun occur.

The basic reaction that occurs in the sun’s core is called the
proton-proton (or p-p) chain. It involves the conversion of
hydrogen nuclei into a helium nucleus.
 Energy From Fusion Reactions
But how does this reaction make energy? If we add up the mass of
the 4 H nuclei that are used in the p-p chain to make He, we find
some mass is missing.

4 H nuclei = 6.693 x 10-27 kg

1 He nucleus = 6.645 x 10-27 kg
difference = 0.048 x 10-27 kg

This difference in mass is called the mass defect. When nuclei

undergo fusion, some of their mass is converted to energy. The
same amount of energy is needed to break the nucleus apart. This
energy is called the binding energy.
Mass defect can also be expressed as a fraction. E.g. here it is 0.007
The equivalence of mass and energy was predicted by Einstein in his famous
equation: E=mc2. Here, E is the binding energy (i.e. the amount of energy created
during fusion), mass is the mass defect and c is the speed of light.
Note that the units for this calculation are mass in kg, c in m/s and
energy in J.
In the case of hydrogen fusion in the p-p chain (4H to 1 He), we saw
that the mass defect is 0.048 x 10-27 kg. So the energy released from
a single reaction is 0.048 x 10-27 x (3x108)2 = 0.43 x 10-11 Joules.

This is a very small amount of energy so many reactions are needed in

order to keep a star burning. In the sun, there are 1038 reactions per
second!

Example: How much energy is produced when the sun converts

500 g of mass into energy?

Using E=mc2, energy = 0.5 x (3x108)2 = 4.5 x1016 J.

How many megaton bombs is this equivalent to if a 1-megaton bomb

produces 4 x1015 J?

4.5 x1016 / 4 x1015 = 11 megaton bombs

Example: In a star, 100 kg of hydrogen is fused into helium. How
much energy is liberated? How many kg of helium are produced?

Here, the easiest thing to do is use the mass defect, i.e. the fraction
of mass that is turned into energy. We saw that for H and He, this is
0.007.
Using E=mc2, E = 0.007 x 100 x 3000000002 = 6.3x1016 J.

To calculate the amount of He produced, we again use the mass

defect as a fraction. The mass defect tells us that 0.007 of the
initial amount is converted to energy. That is 0.007 x 100 kg = 0.7
kg. This amount is therefore “missing”, so 100-0.7=99.3 kg of He
are produced
Based on the reactions we believed to occur in the core of
the sun, we could predict how many neutrinos should be
produced. The problem is, neutrinos could travel through
several light years of lead without interacting with
anything! Early neutrino observatories were built in old
mine-shafts filled with cleaning fluid! Occasionally, a
neutrino would interact with a chlorine atom and cause a
detectable flash.
These experiments lead
to the solar neutrino
problem: we only
detected 1/3 of the
neutrinos that were
predicted.
A Canadian facility (the
Sudbury Neutrino
Observatory) has helped to
solve this problem. The
answer lies in the fact that
our theory predicts only
electron neutrinos should be
produced in the sun (and those are the types of neutrinos
detected by early experiments). However, we now know
that neutrinos can change their flavour between one of 3
types: electron, muon and tau. So, early experiments
missed the 2/3 of non-electron type neutrinos! New
experiments like SNO are filled with pure water, rather
than cleaning fluid and can detect all 3 types of neutrino.
The thermal energy produced in star's core has to be
transported to the surface. Thermal energy can be moved
around via 3 processes: conduction, convection and radiation

Conduction: heat is transferred by the vibration of particles

in close contact. E.g. heating along a metal bar.
Convection: heat is transferred by the movement of
particles from a warm to a cold environment. E.g. air
currents on a warm day
Radiation: heat is transferred by photons. E.g. sunlight.
This is the only one that works in a vacuum.
Remember, it
is those
convection
cells that
cause
granulation in
the
photosphere.