Sun Flashcards
Hat is the sun mainly made of
Hydrogen, helium, oxygen
Who showed that the sun and other stars have similar compositions and are made of mostly hydrogen and helium
Cecilia Payne gaposhkin
What is the photosphere
The visible surface of the sun
Which layer of the sun does it become opaque (we can no longer see through it)
Photosphere
Photons from the interior of the sun can finally ____ after passing the photosphere
Stream away freely
The photosphere is _____
Granulated
What are granuales
Small cells of rising hot gas and sinking cool gas, each the size of Texas and lives for 5-10 mins
How are granules formed
Convection currents under the suns surface
Chromosphere
A layer of hot gases that emits strong emission lines
Transition region
Layer where the temp increases from 10,000 K to 1000000K
Corona
Outermost layer, hottest layer
What is solar wind
Stream of particles moving away from sun
Where does solar wind originate
In quiet and cool regions of the corona called coronal holes
What is coronal holes
Where magnetic field lines stretch far away and don’t trap particles
What are auroras
Interaction between solar wind and earths magnetic field
What are sunspots
Large, dark features seen on the surface of the sun caused by an increased magnetic activity
How long do sunspots last
Few hours to a few months
What is differential rotation
The equator rotates faster than the poles
How often does the sunspot cycle occur
Every 11 years
What is the solar cycle
22 year cycle in which magnetic field reverses direction twice
What are plages
Bright clouds in the chromosphere around sunspots
What are prominences
Relatively cool plasma features originating near sunspots that can either form stable loops or erupt farther into the corona
When do solar flares occur
When opposite magnetic fields destroy each other and release energy
What are solar flares and coronal mass ejections
Rapid eruptions releasing hydrogen bombs of energy
