Astronomy 110: SURVEY OF ASTRONOMY

8. The Sun as a Star

1. Inside the Sun

2. Solar Energy

3. Solar Activity
The Sun is not only the largest object in our solar
system — it is also the nearest example of a star. It
produces energy by converting hydrogen to helium,
thereby maintaining a constant internal temperature.
Particles emitted by the Sun and detected on Earth
confirm the details of this picture.
 Radius:
6.9 × 108 m
(109 times Earth)

Mass:
2 × 1030 kg
(300,000 Earths)

Luminosity:
3.8 × 1026 watts

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Composition of the Sun

Number of Chemical Atomic Atomic

Atoms Symbol Number Weight

1,000,000 H 1 1

85,000 He 2 4

850 O 8 16

400 C 6 12

120 Ne 10 20

100 N 7 14

47 Fe 26 56
 1. INSIDE THE SUN

a. How Does the Sun Stay Hot?

b. Two Kinds of Equilibrium

c. Structure of the Sun

 How Does the Sun Stay Hot?

Why does the Sun shine?

Because it is hot!

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 Is it on FIRE? … NO!

Chemical Energy Content

~ 10,000 years
Luminosity

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 Is it CONTRACTING? … NO!

Gravitational Potential Energy

~ 25 million years
Luminosity

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 E= mc2

—Einstein, 1905

It is powered by NUCLEAR ENERGY!

Nuclear Potential Energy (core)

~ 10 billion years
Luminosity

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Energy From Matter

Matter is frozen energy, and each can be converted to

the other. The “rate of exchange” is
E = mc2
where c = 3 × 105 km/s is the speed of light.

This applies to any form of energy release, though the

fraction of mass converted may be very different:
Form of Energy Example Fraction Converted
Chemical H2 + O → H2O ~ 10-8
Nuclear 4 p → He4 0.007
Gravitational mass → black hole v2 / c2
Two Kinds of Equilibrium

1. Pressure Balance

— outward gas pressure equals inward gravity

2. Energy Balance

— energy is generated as fast as it escapes

 Gravitational
equilibrium:

Energy
provided by
fusion maintains
the pressure.

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 Pressure
Balance

Weight of upper layers

compresses lower layers.

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 Pressure Balance:
outward pressure of gas
equals inward force of
gravity.

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 Energy Balance:
energy energy is released in core
at same rate as it flows
out through ‘surface’.

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 Gravitational
contraction…

provided energy
that heated the
core as the Sun
was forming.

Contraction
stopped when
fusion began
replacing the
energy radiated
into space.

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 charged particles
Structure of the Sun escaping from
Sun’s surface
visible ‘surface’ of
Sun: T ~ 6000 K
energy transport
outward by
circulating gas

outer layer of
Sun’s atmosphere:
T ~ 106 K

energy released
by nuclear fusion:
T ~ 1.5 × 107 K

energy transport
outward by
Note: all layers photons (light)

(except core) have

same composition.
 INSIDE THE SUN: SUMMARY

a. How Does the Sun Stay Hot?

Nuclear reactions; chemical or gravitational energy are
inadequate to maintain luminosity for billions of years.

b. Two Kinds of Equilibrium

Pressure balance (gas pressure vs gravity) and energy
balance (production vs outflow) are both needed.

c. Structure of the Sun

Visible photosphere overlies three internal regions:
(1) convection zone, (2) radiation zone, and (3) core.
2. SOLAR ENERGY

a. The Sun’s Core

b. Energy Transport

c. Testing Solar Models

The Sun’s Core

The enormous weight of

matter above compresses
the core to a density of
ρ 150 gm/cm3 .
The temperature is
T 1.5×10 7 K. Living in the Atmosphere of the Sun

Although denser than any solid, the matter in the Sun’s

core behaves like a gas. The temperature is so high that
atoms are torn apart, forming a ‘sea’ of electrons and
atomic nuclei; in other words, a plasma.
 OK, let's assume we can make the walls of our container
A Pint of the Sun perfectly reflective, so that all the escaping heat energy is
reflected right back in. I said we were using magic, didn't I? So
we have a pint of sun-stuff sitting right there in front of us, safe
as can be. Now let's allow a little energy to escape — just
exactly the amount of energy being generated by nuclear
Descriptions of nuclear `burning' in stars sometimes give the reactions, so the gas stays at a constant temperature. We can use
impression that the central furnace of a star is a place of violent the escaping energy to run a generator and produce electricity.
activity. In fact, the inside of a star is rather peaceful, and Thermonuclear power!
hydrogen burning goes on very slowly.
But before we call a press conference or make any big deals
To appreciate this, imagine we had a magic transporter which with HECO, we better figure out how much energy those
could beam one pint of gas from the center of the Sun right into bottled nuclear reactions are generating. And the answer is...
this room. One pint of water weighs one pound, but the center
of the Sun has a density about 150 times the density of water, so About a thousand times less energy than I'm giving off by being
a pint of sun-stuff weighs almost as much as I do. alive. That's all! Per unit mass, the Sun produces much less
energy than a person. In total, the Sun generates a lot of energy,
Now the first thing that would happen is that this building would but only because it's so massive.
vanish in a huge explosion. When it was down these in the
center of the Sun, the gas was compressed by the vast weight of Of course, the Sun produces energy by nuclear reactions, while I
all the thick layers of dense material above it, so it was under produce energy by chemical reactions. That's why the Sun can go
enormous pressure. When it's suddenly transported to Earth, on shining for ten billion years, whereas I get hungry every few
the confining pressure is removed, and the gas expands — very hours.
rapidly. The explosion would have the force of a small nuclear
bomb. The enormous lifetime of the Sun gives us another perspective
on the same basic point, which is that nuclear reactions in stars
So if we want to get this experiment approved by the University are, for the most part, very slow and gentle. It takes about ten
administration, we need to make a container which can hold our billion years for all the hydrogen in the center of the Sun to be
pint of sun-stuff under pressure without bursting apart. That's burned to helium. That means that per year, a hydrogen nucleus
not easy to do, but we've already assumed we have a has about one chance in ten billion of being involved in a nuclear
transporter right out of Star Trek, so a little more magic won't reaction. The center of the Sun is an incredibly safe place for
be noticed. But our troubles are not over, because this gas from hydrogen nuclei! A hydrogen nucleus in the Sun runs much less
the center of the sun is incredibly hot, and the heat would risk of undergoing a nuclear reaction than I do of being hit by
escape in the form of X-rays, cooking everyone in the vicinity. lightning.
Why so Hot?

Particles move fast at high temperatures. For hydrogen

nuclei to fuse, the temperature must be ~107 K.
Cast of Characters
The proton (p), a heavy, positively charged particle;
the nucleus of ordinary hydrogen.

The neutron (n), a heavy, uncharged particle; found in

the nuclei of all atoms other than ordinary hydrogen.

The positron (e+), a light, positively charged particle;

+
the anti-matter equivalent of the electron (e-).

ν The neutrno (ν), a very light, uncharged particle.

Hydrogen (p) Deuterium (d) Light Helium (3He) Helium (4He)

Proton-Proton Chain

1. Two p fuse to form a d, + +

a e+ and a ν.
This step is very slow; a p must
change into an n. The e+ will
immediately annihilate an e-.
2. One p and one d fuse,
forming 3He and a photon.
This step produces the most
energy, carried by the photon.
3. Two 3He fuse, yielding
a He and two p.
4
+

Wikipedia: Proton-proton chain reaction

Overall Reaction γ
ν
+

+
ν
γ
4 p → 4He + 2 γ + 2 ν + 2 e+
0.7% of mass energy
The Solar Thermostat

less fusion temperature falls more fusion temperature climbs

pressure drops core contracts pressure grows core expands
contraction core heats up expansion core cools down
core heats up more fusion core cools down less fusion
The Solar Thermostat

Pressure balance and energy balance work together to

regulate energy production; the sun is stable.
Energy Transport

Living in the Atmosphere of the Sun

How does energy get out of the Sun?

Energy Transport:
Radiation Zone

Energy is carried out of

the radiation zone by core

photons, which bounce

from place to place and
slowly diffuse outward.

Moving in a straight line, light could cover this distance

in less than two seconds, but the actual path is so
twisted that it takes ~10 yr for a photon to escape!
5
Energy Transport: Convection Zone

In the convection zone,

energy is transported by
convection; hot gas rises,
cools off, and sinks back.

This creates a ‘cellular’

pattern of bright hot spots
on the Sun’s photosphere.
Energy Transport: Convection Zone

Solar Model Visuals

Testing Solar Models

Our basic picture of the Sun's interior was developed

by applying the laws of pressure and energy balance to
a sphere of hydrogen and helium of known size, mass,
and energy output.

Two powerful tests are now available:

— Helioseismology uses vibrations on the Sun’s
surface to probe its interior.
— Solar neutrino detectors measure the reactions in
the Sun’s core directly.
Helioseismology

Helioseismology

Sound waves created by turbulence echo through the

solar interior and shake the ‘surface’.
Helioseismology: Observations

Tiny variations in line-of-

sight velocity are detected
using the doppler shift.
These create the ‘texture’
in this image of the Sun.

-2 km/s 0 2 km/s
line-of-sight velocity Helioseismology
Helioseismology: Results

Measured density and temperature agree with models!

Solar Neutrinos
ν

Neutrinos (ν) produced by fusion reactions escape the

Sun unimpeded and can be detected on Earth.
Solar Neutrinos: An Image of the Core

Living in the Atmosphere of the Sun

Recent measurements of neutrinos from the Sun show

that fusion is taking place at the expected rate.
Cosmic Gall
From Telephone Poles and Other Poems, by John Updike

Neutrinos: they are very small insult the stallion in his stall,
They have no charge; they have no mass; and, scorning barriers of class,
they do not interact at all. infiltrate you and me! Like tall
The Earth is just a silly ball and painless guillotines they fall
to them, through which they simply pass down through our heads into the grass.
like dustmaids down a drafty hall At night, they enter at Nepal
or photons through a sheet of glass. and pierce the lover and his lass
They snub the most exquisite gas, from underneath the bed. You call
ignore the most substantial wall, it wonderful; I call it crass.
cold shoulder steel and sounding brass,
 SOLAR ENERGY: SUMMARY

a. The Sun’s Core

Generates energy via Proton-Proton chain (4p → He);
actively regulates energy production.
b. Energy Transport
Energy random-walks through radiation zone (105 yr);
carried to surface by hot gas in convection zone.
c. Testing Solar Models
‘Sunquakes’ probe interior and confirm solar models;
neutrinos detected on Earth verify reaction rate.
3. SOLAR ACTIVITY

a. The Magnetic Sun

b. Sunspot Cycles

c. Terrestrial Effects
The Magnetic Sun

The Big Corona

The Magnetic Sun

The Sun rotates and transports energy by convection.

In addition, a plasma is a good conductor of electricity.

The Sun generates a strong magnetic field.

The Big Corona

Solar Activity: Role of Magnetic Fields

1. Sunspots
— fields stop convection surface becomes cooler

2. Solar prominences
— field lines above photosphere trap flows of plasma

3. Solar flares
— tangled field lines ‘snap’ explosive energy release
Sunspots

— cooler (~ 4500 K) than surrounding photosphere

— have strong magnetic fields (~1000 × ‘normal’)
Measuring Magnetic Fields

single spectral line

weak field

triple spectral line

strong field

The Zeeman Effect causes single spectral lines to

split into three in a strong magnetic field.
Magnetic Fields and Plasma

compass needles
point along field lines

Charged particles in plasma spiral around field lines.

Sunspot
Fields

Sunspots occur in pairs, with

bundles of magnetic field lines
connecting them.
Solar Prominences

Prominences contain relatively cool gas confined by

magnetic field lines. Some may persist for months;
others break up in hours, ejecting mass into space.

A Solar Prominence Unfurls

Solar Flares

Flares release energy stored in tangled magnetic fields,

heating gas above 10 K and ejecting particles at nearly
7

the speed of light.

Solar Flares Set the Sun Quaking

Sunspot Cycles

The number of sunspots varies with an 11 yr period.

Some cycles are much more intense than others.
Cycles of Solar Activity

The Sun spins slightly faster at the equator than the

poles. This may slowly ‘wind up’ the magnetic field,
triggering cycles of sunspots.
Sunspot Cycles: The ‘Butterfly Diagram’

Later in a cycle, spots appear closer to the equator.

Terrestrial Effects: Flares

Major flares may eject charged particles toward Earth,

disrupting critical electronic systems.
Terrestrial Effects: Climate

‘Little Ice Age’

Wikipedia: Solar variation

Low levels of solar activity

may be associated with cold
periods on Earth.
The warming trend since
1980 is not due to the Sun!
Sun and Heliosphere
What About the Current Cycle?

NOAA: Solar Cycle Progression

Visible Light is Part of the Electromagnetic Spectrum

Light as a Wave: Light as a Particle:

Wavelength (λ) and frequency Frequency (ν) and energy (E)
(ν) are inversely related: are directly related:

λν = c E = hν
Light’s speed (c) and Planck’s constant (h) are always constant.