The Sun and Sunspots Lab Quiz

Question 1

Average temp of the sun

Answer 1

6,000 degrees Kelvin

Question 2

1 AU

Answer 2

93,000,000 mi

Question 3

If a photon of light is created in the core of the sun, how long does it take to reach the photosphere

Answer 3

1 million years

Question 4

How many light minutes away from earth is the sun?

Answer 4

7-8 minutes

Question 5

How large are most sunspots

Answer 5

The same size as the earth

Question 6

What is the sun primarily made up of

Answer 6

90% Hydrogen

Question 7

Hydrostatic equilibrium

Answer 7

o If the core got hotter, the sun would get bigger and brighter. Due to this increase in size, the sun would eventually shrink back down because the core can’t keep the sun that hot. Vice versa if the sun’s core got cooler
o The sun is nearly perfectly stable due to hydrostatic equilibrium

Question 8

• Nuclear fission

Answer 8

o When a heavier element is split into two smaller elements
o Produces radioactive waste and runoff
o Usually happens at room temperature

Question 9

• Nuclear fusion

Answer 9

o When two lighter elements are combined to make a larger element
o Most stars produce their energy through nuclear fusion
o Called hydrogen burning in astronomy
o In the core, hydrogen is slowly using its hydrogen and turning it into helium
o Only produces helium, nothing radioactive
o Requires very high temperatures, such as in the core of the sun

Question 10

1. Core

Answer 10

a. In solar astronomy, the innermost part of the Sun, where energy is generated bynuclear reactions. (15,000,000 degrees Kelvin)
b. Energy created by hydrogen fusion

Question 11

1. Radiative zone

Answer 11

a. An interior layer of the Sun, lying between thecoreand theconvection zone, where energy travels outward by radiation.

Question 12

1. Convective zone

Answer 12

a. A layer in a star in whichconvectioncurrents are the main mechanism by which energy is transported outward. In the Sun, a convection zone extends from just below thephotosphereto about seventy percent of the solar radius.

Question 13

1. Photosphere

Answer 13

a. The visible surface of the Sun. It consists of a zone in which the gaseous layers change from being completely opaque to radiation to being transparent. It is the layer from which the light we actually see (with the human eye) is emitted

Question 14

1. Chromosphere

Answer 14

a. The layer of thesolar atmospherethat is located above thephotosphereand beneath the transition region and thecorona. The chromosphere is hotter than the photosphere but not
as hot as the corona.

Question 15

1. Corona

Answer 15

a. The outermost layer of the solar atmosphere. The corona consists of a highly rarefied gas with a temperature greater than one millionkelvin. It is visible to the naked eye during a solar eclipse. (1 million degrees K)

Question 16

• Plasma

Answer 16

o Plasma consists of a gas heated to sufficiently high temperatures that the atomsionize (electrons and protons are separated). The properties of the gas are controlled by electromagnetic forces among constituentionsandelectrons, which results in a different type of behavior. Plasma is often considered the fourth state of matter (besides solid, liquid, and gas). Most of the matter in the Universe is in the plasma state

Question 17

• Sunspot

Answer 17

o A temporary disturbed area in thesolar photospherethat appears dark because it is cooler than the surrounding areas. Sunspots consist of concentrations of strongmagneticflux. They usually occur in pairs or groups of opposite polarity that move in unison across the face of the Sun as it rotates.
o Look black, but they are actually red
o As hot as the filament of a light bulb

Question 18

• Solar prominence

Answer 18

o
A structure in thecoronaconsisting of coolplasmasupported bymagnetic fields. Prominences are bright structures when seen over the solarlimb, but appear dark when seen against the bright solardisk. Prominences seen on the disk are also known asfilaments.

Question 19

• Solar flare

Answer 19

o Rapid release of energy from a localized region on the Sun in the form ofelectromagnetic radiation, energetic particles, and mass motions

Question 20

• Coronal mass ejection

Answer 20

o A huge magnetic bubble ofplasmathat erupts from the Sun’scoronaand travels through space at high speed

Question 21

• Solar wind

Answer 21

o A stream of particles, primarilyelectronsandprotons, flowing outward from the Sun at speeds as high as 900 km/s. The solar wind is essentially the hot solarcoronaexpanding into interplanetary and interstellar space.