SCIE 1920U Chapter 8: 8 The Sun and Other Stars
Document Summary
Sunspots can be larger in size than earth. Luminosity if at 3. 8 x 1026 watts. Most of the sun"s energy is radiated as visible light, but the sun also radiates light across most of the rest of the electromagnetic spectrum, including ultraviolet and x rays. In terms of composition, the sun is essentially a giant ball of hot gas or, more technically, of plasma a gas in which many of the atoms are ionized because of the high temperature. Sun"s surface temperature, which averages about 5800 k, except in sunspots, where the gas is a cooler 4000 k. Theoretical models tell us that the temperature reaches an astounding 15 million k at the. The entire sun is rotating, though unlike a spinning ball, not all parts of the sun rotate at the same rate. The solar equator completes one rotation in about 25 days, and the rotation period increases with latitude to about 30 days near the solar poles.
