ASTR 3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Solar Cycle, Visa Inc., Radiation Zone
Document Summary
Held together by balance between gravity and gas pressure. Contains 99. 9% of the mass in the solar system. Distance: 1. 49 x 1011 m = 1. 49 x 108 km = 1 a. u. Composition: 70% h, 28% he, 2% other (o, c, fe) Layers of the sun, from the outside in (hotter colder hotter) Remember temp = avg ke of the gas. A flow of charged particles, protons and electrons, from the visually opaque surface of the sun. Extends to beyond the orbit of pluto. The outermost gaseous layer of the solar atmosphere . Can be seen as pinkish in solar eclipse due to hydrogen emission. Visible surface (as far into the sun as we can see); below this level, gas is dense and opaque. Energy transported upward by rising hot gas. Breaks through photosphere to cause a granulation appearance (reminiscent of boiling water) Energy transported upward by photons (not by the mass motion of gas)
