Layers of Sun

The Core
The innermost layer of the sun is the core.

The charge neutral material of protons and electrons that makes up the
core is called plasma.
The Sun's core has a very high temperature, more than 15 million degrees
Kelvin, and the material in the core is very tightly packed or dense. It is a
combination of these two properties that creates an environment just right
for nuclear reactions to occur. In the core, fusion reaction produce energy
in the form of gamma rays and photons with high energy and high
frequency.
Radiative Zone.
Once energy is produced in the core of the Sun, it needs a way to travel
from the solar centre to the outer regions. The physical transport of
energy from its production site to the surrounding regions can be done in
a number of ways. However, for a star like the Sun, the most efficient
means of transferring energy near the core is by radiation. Consequently,
the region surrounding the core of the Sun is known as the radiation zone.
Throughout this region of the solar interior, energy, in the form of
radiation, is transferred by its interaction with the surrounding atoms. In
the radiation zone of the Sun the temperature is a little cooler than the
core .But it takes hundred thousand years for photon to escape from core
to radiative zone.
Convection zone.
Once out of the radiation zone the energy, originally produced in the core,
requires a new transport mechanism to continue its journey to the
surface. This new method of transport is required because outside of the
radiation zone the temperature is relatively cool, now only 2 million
degrees Kelvin as opposed to 5 million in the radiation zone. At this
temperature the atoms in will absorb energy, but because things are cool
and dense the atoms do not release it so readily. Consequently the
transfer of energy by radiation slows down significantly. We now need
another method to transport the Sun's energy to the surface.
The most efficient means of energy transfer is now convection and we find
ourselves in the region of the Sun's interior known as the convection zone.
The hotter material near the top of the radiation zone rises up and the
cooler material sinks to the bottom. As the hot material reaches the top of
the convection zone it begins to cool and sink, and as it sinks it heats up
again and will rise. This produces a rolling motion much like that in a pot
of boiling water.
The hot material follows a direct path through the convective zone and
the energy is transferred much faster than it is by radiation. It takes only
a month for the hot material to carry its energy to the top of the
convection zone.
The core, the radiation zone and the convection zones make up the
interior of the Sun, all of which is invisible to conventional means of
observation. Much like earth scientists study the interior of the earth by
measuring different vibrations, solar scientists are able to study the
interior of the Sun using its natural oscillations. This new field of solar
study is known as helioseismology.
Photosphere
The exterior of the Sun is comprised of the surface and the atmosphere,
both of which can be studied using an array of telescopes and radiation
detectors. The photosphere is called the apparent surface of the Sun.
Because the Sun is completely made of gas there is no hard surface like
there is on earth. Nonetheless, when we look at the Sun there is a depth
past which the gas begins to get so dense that we cannot see through it.
We term the region where this happens the apparent surface, or the
photosphere. The photosphere is the disk you see in the sky when you
look at the Sun through a filtered telescope or as a projection on a piece
of paper.
The photosphere is the zone from which the sunlight we see is emitted.
The photosphere is a comparatively thin layer of gasses surrounding the
envelope. The composition, temperature, and pressure of the photosphere
are revealed by the spectrum of sunlight. In fact, helium was discovered in
1896 by William Ramsey, when in analysing the solar spectrum.
Sunspots
Sunspots are dark spots on the photosphere, typically with the same
diameter as the Earth. They have cooler temperatures than the
photosphere.
Chromosphere
Above the photosphere is a layer of gas, approximately 2000 km thick,
known as the chromosphere or sphere of color. The chromosphere's
temperature, however, is 7000 K, hotter than that of the photosphere.
Temperatures continue to increase through the corona.
In the chromosphere energy continues to be transported by radiation.
Hydrogen atoms absorb energy from the photosphere and most of the
energy is then emitted as red light. The chromosphere is most easily
viewed by filtering out all other wavelengths of light from the Sun and
only letting the red light from the chromosphere through.
Corona
The outermost layer of the sun is the corona. The white corona is a million
times less bright than the inner layers of the sun, but is many times larger.
The corona is hotter than some of the inner layers. Its average
temperature is 1 million Kelvin.
Temperatures steadily decrease as we move farther away from the core,
but after the photosphere they begin to rise again.
The outermost layer of the Sun is called the corona. It gets its name from
the crown like appearance evident during a total solar eclipse. The corona
stretches far out into space and, in fact, particles from the corona reach
the earth's orbit. The corona is very thin and faint and therefore can only
be seen from earth during a total solar eclipse or by using a coronagraph
telescope which simulates an eclipse by covering the bright solar disk.
The shape of the corona is mostly determined by the magnetic field of the
Sun.
When the solar wind reaches the earth the magnetic field of the earth
will sometimes trap these electrons and protons and pull them into the
earth's atmosphere. Atoms in the earth's atmosphere interact with these
high energy particles by accepting energy from them and then releasing
that energy in the form of coloured light. This display of light is known as
the Aurora Borealis when it occurs in the northern hemisphere.
By viewing the Sun with many different instruments, each tuned to a

particular wavelength of the Sun's energy, scientists can use their
"different eyes" to help look for answers to the many questions that still
surround our nearest star.

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The Core

The innermost layer of the sun is the core.

By viewing the Sun with many different instruments, each tuned to a

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