Quiz #3 Flashcards
Why does the sun shine
It is hot
In what form does most energy leave the sun?
Most is in the form of EM radiation, and a minimal amount is particle radiation
How long does mass annihilated at the center take to reach the surface
1 million years, therefore the light we see was mass 1 million years ago
Neutrino
- neutral subatomic particle
- carries energy away in a fusion reaction (like the sun)
- billions of them pass through you every second
- they interact with almost nothing, but occasionally but an electron, which causes the electron to spit out a photon, and the photon is what we detect
- different types of neutrinos come from different types of fusion (CNO or regular)
- 3 varieties
Structure of the Sun
Core
- temp: 8mk-15mk
- 25% of suns radius
Radiative Zone
- temp: 2mk-8mk
- 45% of suns radius
Convection Zone
- temp: 6000k-2mk
- 30% of suns radius
- convective cells are convection currents
How long do energy and light take in the radiative Zone?
1 million years
How long do energy and light take in the convective Zone
0.2 million years
What happens in the sun due to convection currents?
- sunspots
- granules
- super granules
The proton-proton cycle
- Hydrogen to about 94% of the suns
- the heat comes from the annihilated mass of fusion
- 4 million tons of mass are annihilated into light every second
- 3 steps
Step 1 of the Proton-Proton Cycle
Bring two protons close enough to each other, (due to gravity on the sun, but on earth we have to input a lot of energy. The weak nuclear force squeezes the positive out of one of the protons, and you get deuterium (Hydrogen-2). This step takes a billion years. You input 2 protons and you get H2, a positron, and a neutrino.
Step 2 of the Proton-Proton Cycle
After the positron and neutron leave the process, you take the deuterium from step one and a hydrogen-1 from outside of the reaction, and form Helium-3. You will get a gamma ray because mass is annihilated. The gamma ray might heat up a neighboring particle, or leave the sun. So, you input the deuterium and a Hydrogen-1, and you get Helium-3. This process takes a second to occur.
Step 3 of the Proton-Proton Cycle
After the process has happened twice, use the two helium-3- to get helium 4 and 2 recycled protons. This step takes a million years.
3 atmospheres of the sun
Photosphere
Chromosphere
Corona
Photosphere
- visible to us (brightest in the visible spectrum)
- 5700K (pale yellow)
- Sunspots
- faculae
- granules
- super granules
Sunspots
- cooler parts of the photosphere that are cooler and glow dark red
- dark center called the umbra
- Lighter surrounding ring called the penumbra
- caused by convective cells near the surface of the sun
- well grouped
Faculae
- hotter regions associated with “active regions” (regions of the magnetic field)
- not well grouped like sunspots
- bright, white
- cover the surface but are easier to see near the limb
Chromosphere
- particle are hotter because they are excited by the suns dynamic magnetic fields
- prominence
- filaments
- spicules
- plage
Prominence
- flame like structures held above the limb by magnetic fields
Filaments
- dark ribbons on the solar disk
- same as prominence but with the sun as the background instead of space
Spicules
- jet like structures covering the chromosphere
- the grass like top of the granule
Plage
- similar to faculae on the photosphere
- well grouped
- covering larger areas
- hotter regions
Corona
- coronal holes
Coronal holes
- asymmetric
- occur at solar minimum
- at the solar maximum, it is symmetric and there are no holes
Granules
- cell like structures about 1000km, acros
- bright center due to rising convection
- park parts (intergranval lanes) due to cooler gas and plasma
- each cell lasts 0.5-1 hour before it morphs and changes
Super Granules
- only observable by Doppler imaging
- caused by convective cells deep within the sun
- associated with the chromosphere is network
Solar Flare
An explosion caused by chaotic magnetic fields
Coronal Mass Ejection
- solar storm
- pushes ions outward
Cosmic Rays
Particle radiation in which the particle is a heavy nucleus
Solar Wind
Particle radiation in which the particle is a light radius
