Chapter 9 Quiz Flashcards
How massive is the sun compared to everything else in our solar system?
About 100 times bigger than the earth. Contains 99% of our solar system mass
In a giant ball of gas like the sun, whats the difference between the atmosphere and the interior?
everything below the photosphere is considered to be the interior since we cant really see through this layer of gas
What are the 3 layers of the atmosphere, how thick are they, where are they located (order)?
Photosphere(inner)- 400 km thick, the visible layer
chromosphere (middle)- 2000 km thick, what we see during a total solar eclipse, visible as a pinkish strip around the edges of the dark moon
Corona (outer)- extends out to millions of km from top of the chromosphere, the top layer (halo), very rarified gas, in transition zone, temp rises from 10,000 to 2 million degrees
What is the limb darkening? what causes it?
The photosphere appears darkest toward the edge, or limb, of the solar disk so we see different depths. the lower temps are toward the outer edges so we see a darker color when looking directly at the edges as opposed to looking at the center
Whats special about the photosphere?
you cannot see through it to the center of the sun because the gas is opaque. It contains granules
What are granules?
on the photosphere are dark, blotchy spots that form, disappear and reform. caused by convection currents of plasma within the suns convection zone
whats special about the chromosphere?
it is only visible during a total solar eclipse. it has spicules that flare up into the corona
what are spicules? where are they located?
jets of gas that surge up into the corona. located in the chromosphere
whats special about the corona?
it contains many ionized (very hot) elements even though it is farther from the hot core, it has low density, it is the source of solar wind (when gas escapes the sun and it projected out into space)
what do we mean by “the active sun”? How is it different from “regular” sun phenomena?
the active sun has granules, super granules, spicules, and solar wind?
What is a sun spot? how long does it last? how long is its cycle?
a sun spot is a darker, cooler spot. they last 1-4 days. they have an 11 year cycle. they reveal the solar cycle and suns rotation
Does the Sun rotate? What kind of rotation? How do we know that? How long does it take?
Yes, differential rotation. sunspot activity reveals that like the giant planets, different latitudes of the sun rotate at different rates. Fast on the equator (25 days)
Whats the basic underlying cause of sun spots (and other active sun phenomena)?
magnetic fields
What are plages?
hotter glowing compressed gas
What are filaments?
gas lofted from photosphere