These spots correspond to concentrations in the magnetic flux field that inhibit convection and cause regions on the surface to drop in temperature to compared to the surrounding material. It is also on this layer that sunspots occur, which appear as dark patches compared to the surrounding region. Illustration of the structure of the Sun and a red giant star, showing their convective zones. The turbulent convection of this layer of the sun is also what causes an effect that produces magnetic north and south poles all over the surface of the sun. This forces them to sink to the base of the convection zone again – where they pick up more heat and the convective cycle continues.Īt the surface of the sun, the temperature drops to about 5,700 K. Once these cells rise to just below the photospheric surface, their material cools, causing their density increases. As a result, radiative heat transport is less effective, and the density of the plasma is low enough to allow convective currents to develop.īecause of this, rising thermal cells carry the majority of the heat outward to the sun's photosphere. Here, the temperature is lower than in the radiative zone and heavier atoms are not fully ionized. This is the sun's outer layer, which accounts for everything beyond 70% of the inner solar radius (or from the surface to approx. Density also drops in this layer a hundredfold from 0.25 solar radii to the top of the radiative zone, going from 20 g/cm 3 closest to the core to just 0.2 g/cm 3 at the upper boundary. Temperatures drop in this layer, going from approximately 7 million kelvin closer to the core to 2 million at the boundary with the convective zone. Basically, this involves ions of hydrogen and helium emitting photons that travel a short distance before being reabsorbed by other ions. There is no thermal convection in this layer, but solar material in this layer is hot and dense enough that thermal radiation is all that is needed to transfer the intense heat generated in the core outward. This is the zone immediately next to the core, which extends out to about 0.7 solar radii. Two positrons are released from this process, as well as two neutrinos (which changes two of the protons into neutrons), and energy. The net result is the fusion of four protons (hydrogen nuclei) into one alpha particle – two protons and two neutrons bound together into a particle that is identical to a helium nucleus. This is possible thanks to the extreme pressure and temperature that exists within the core, which are estimated to be the equivalent of 250 billion atmospheres (25.33 trillion KPa) and 15.7 million kelvin, respectively. It is here, in the core, where energy is produced by hydrogen atoms (H) being converted into nuclei of helium (He). The core of the sun is the region that extends from the center to about 20–25% of the solar radius. In the end, it all comes down to the sun's layers, and the role each of them plays in making sure that solar energy gets to where it can help create and sustain life. But getting that energy from the center of our sun all the way out to planet Earth and beyond involves a couple of crucial steps. Technically known as nuclear fusion, this process releases an incredible amount of energy in the form of light and heat. This not only created the big ball of light at the center of our solar system, it also triggered a process whereby hydrogen, collected in the center, began fusing to create solar energy. a nebula) collapsed under the force of its own gravity – which is known as Nebula Theory. Scientists believe that this began when a huge cloud of gas and particles (i.e. The simple answer is that the sun, like all stars, is able to create energy because it is essentially a massive fusion reaction. But how exactly does our sun go about producing this energy? What steps are involved, and how does it get to us here on planet Earth? This means that it is in right spot (neither too close nor too far) to receive the sun's abundant energy, which includes the light and heat that is essential for chemical reactions. One of the reasons for this is because the Earth lies within our sun's Habitable Zone (aka.
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