AST101H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Photosphere, Nuclear Reaction, Plutonium
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AST101H1 Full Course Notes
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Document Summary
Core of the sun is hottest place in solar system. The corona is much hotter than the photosphere but is much harder to see. Diameter: 1, 392, 000 km (109 times larger than earth"s diameter) Mass: 1. 989x10^30 kg (300,000 times the mass of earth) Rotation rate: 25 days (equator) to 30 days (poles) Temp: 5500 c (average); 15 million c (centre) Density: 1. 4 grams/cc (average); 160 grams/cc (centre) From 25% to 70% of the radius. Light and heaet travel outward from core. Lots of churning: hot gas rising, cool gas faling. Surface of the sun (where sun changes from transparent to opaque) Halo of gas above photosphere and chromosphere. Seen only during total eclipse of sun. Strong magnetism prevents hot gas from rising up. Number of sunspots goes from lots to almost none on an 11-year cycle. Pattern seen going back approx 400 years. A nucleus made of protons and neutrons.
