GEOG 2050 Lecture : Solar Radiation And Seasons Week 1
Document Summary
Milky way galaxy- a flattened disk-shaped mass, estimated to contain nearly 400 billion stars. Speed of light- 300,000 kmps or 186,000 mps, 9. 5 trillion kilometers per year or nearly 6 trillion miles per year (unit of measure for vast universe) Gravity- the mutual attracting force exerted by the mass of an object upon all other objects, was they key force in this condensing solar nebula. Sun- large mass (99. 9 % of solar system), diameter 1,392,000 km ~109 earths, 74 % hydrogen, 25 % helium < 2 % other, nuclear fusion of hydrogen atoms produce helium and releasing energy , surface ~ Fusion- the process of forcibly joining positively charged hydrogen and helium nuclei under extreme temperature and pressure; occurs naturally in thermonuclear reactions within stars such as our sun. Solar wind- first applied to this phenomenon in 1958. Sunspots- suns most conspicuous features, caused by magnetic storms on the sun.
