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    19 Sun

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    physicsolympiad22
    The Sun is powered by nuclear fusion in its core, which converts hydrogen into helium. This process releases enormous amounts of energy over billions of years. Heat from the core moves outward through the Sun by radiation and convection. Surface phenomena like sunspots and solar flares are manifestations of the Sun's intense magnetic field, which is generated by convection and differential rotation within the Sun.

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    19 Sun

    Uploaded by

    physicsolympiad22
    16 views42 pages
    The Sun is powered by nuclear fusion in its core, which converts hydrogen into helium. This process releases enormous amounts of energy over billions of years. Heat from the core moves outward through the Sun by radiation and convection. Surface phenomena like sunspots and solar flares are manifestations of the Sun's intense magnetic field, which is generated by convection and differential rotation within the Sun.

    Original Description:

    Astronomy Lecture Sun

    Original Title

    19_Sun

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    The Sun is powered by nuclear fusion in its core, which converts hydrogen into helium. This process releases enormous amounts of energy over billions of years. Heat from the core moves outward through the Sun by radiation and convection. Surface phenomena like sunspots and solar flares are manifestations of the Sun's intense magnetic field, which is generated by convection and differential rotation within the Sun.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    16 views42 pages

    19 Sun

    Uploaded by

    physicsolympiad22
    The Sun is powered by nuclear fusion in its core, which converts hydrogen into helium. This process releases enormous amounts of energy over billions of years. Heat from the core moves outward through the Sun by radiation and convection. Surface phenomena like sunspots and solar flares are manifestations of the Sun's intense magnetic field, which is generated by convection and differential rotation within the Sun.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 42

    The Sun

    ◆ Objective
    • Energy source
    • Structure
    • Magnetic field
    The Sun
    • The Sun is the only SS object that emits significant amount of light

    • It’s spectrum is close to that of a blackbody with a temperature of 5800 K

    • This high temperature leads to a high fl


    •(F=σT4)
    •the large size leads to a high luminosity
    •L=4 x 1026 (J/s)
    • all H are ionized (p+ and e-)

    •What is the energy source!?!?!?


    • Sun is about 4.5 billion years old
    • what process could sustain it so long?
    How does the sun “burn”?

    ◆ Geologic evidence shows Earth ≈ 4.5 billion years old

    ◆ What energy source could fuel sun for this time?


    • Chemical energ y (fossil fuels)? 5 x 107 J/kg
    ◆ 5 x 107 J/kg * 2 x 1030 kg = 1 x 1038 J total
    ◆ 1 x 103 J/4 x 102 J/s = 5000 years!
    8 6

    • Gravitational contraction?
    ◆ 1 x 1041 J (complicated) → 8 million years
    • Fission? 1 x 1014 J/kg
    ◆ Only 25% hot enough → 1 billion years
    What’s the answer?
    ◆ Only process that can provide the necessary energy for so
    much time: NUCLEAR FUSION

    ◆ Fusion: conversion of lighter elements into heavier ones


    Positively
    charged
    EXAMPLE

    ◆ 4 hydrogen atoms combine to make 1


    helium

    • Hydrogen: 1 proton, 1 electron


    • Helium: 2 protons, 2 neutrons, 2 electrons

    ◆ A great deal of energy given off...


    WHY?!?!
    Energy Production in Stars

    In 1905, a young patent clerk


    changed the way we saw the world…forever.
    What happened to the mass?

    ◆ Einstein: E = mc2
    ◆ Mass & energy are different forms of same thing

    ◆ This energy is given off in sun’s core, in form of heat


    & neutrinos
    IMAGINARY DEMO

    ◆ 4 H = 4.031 3 amu
    ◆ 1 He = 4.002 6 amu

    ◆ Δm = 0.03 amu
    ◆ 4H/Δm = 0.007 = 0.7%

    • Of mass is turned into


    energy
    Sun’s lifetime

    ◆ Sun’s mass: 2 x 103 0 kg


    • 75% of the Sun is Hydrogen
    • Only 25% of the sun is hot enough for fusion
    • Only 0.7% (0.007) of mass is turned into E
    ◆ How long could sun “burn” hydrogen fuel?
    • 2 x 1030 kg * 0.25 * 0.75 * 0.007 = 2 x 1027 kg
    • E = m c2 2 x 1027 kg * (3 x 108)2 = 2 x 1044 J
    •= 2 x 1044 J/4 x 1026 J/s = 6 x 1017 seconds
    Time =
    ◆ 10 billion years!
    The Sun- Neutrinos
    • Neutrinos are particles that are almost massless, have no charge, and
    interact only very weakly with matter

    • Neutrinos are formed in great numbers during fusion 38 per second in


    the Sun!)

    • We have detected these coming from the Sun in large numbers, strongly
    supporting that there is nuclear fusion going on in the e
    DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
    • It’s not all that easy to fuse 4 hydrogen atoms into a helium
    atom. Why might it be difficult to get the process started by
    bringing two hydrogen atoms together?

    • How could stars overcome this difficulty?

    • Take 5 mins to discuss


    We already know the sun’s “surface temp”

    ◆ At core: In order to generate nuclear fusion, density


    must be extreme
    • Gravity & pressure take care of this

    ◆ Temperature must exceed 1 06 Kelvin!


    • Sun’s core temperature: 15,000,000 K.
    ◆ Density: 160,000 kg/ m3
    • Density of water = 100 0 kg/m3
    TPS
    Structure

    ◆ All of that energy being produced in the core of the Sun

    ◆ Why doesn’t the Sun blow itself apart?


    Hydrostatic Equilibrium
    Energy Transport
    Solar Structure

    In the interior,
    heat is transported by radiation
    (without transport of mass).

    Near the surface,


    heat is transported by convection
    (with transport of mass).

    The Sun displays a


    radiative zone
    in the interior

    And a
    convective zone
    near the surface
    Solar Structure

    In the interior,
    heat is transported by radiation
    (without transport of mass).

    Near the surface,


    heat is transported by convection
    (with transport of mass).

    The Sun displays a


    radiative zone
    in the interior

    And a
    convective zone
    near the surface
    170,000 years !!!
    Sun’s density = 105 kg/m3

    Even photons take a


    Long time to escape

    Kind of a drunk walk…


    The Sun- Granulation
    • Convection in the outer layers of the Sun causes granules to form

    • These are just convection cells with cooler (fainter) gas sinking at the
    edges and hotter (brighter) gas rising e center. cell is about
    1000 km wide
    Sun’s Layers
    Photosphere
    ◆ Layer where the
    density is low enough
    to allow photons to
    escape
    • I’m free of my drunk
    walk!!! (sober)
    • Temp = 5800 K

    ◆ It makes the Sun


    appear as a solid disk,
    even though it is
    gaseous
    PHOTOSPHERE
    • The observed surface of the Sun at visible
    wavelengths is the photosphere . More exactly, the
    photosphere is defined as the layer of the Sun’s
    atmosphere from which nearly all of the observed
    photons escape.
    • The temperature T beneath the photosphere
    increases with depth, as does the degree of ionization;
    the interior of the Sun is a hot plasma of free electrons
    and positively charged ions.
    • Because the top of the photosphere is cooler than
    the layers beneath, the photosphere produces
    absorption lines in the spectrum of the Sun.
    Limb Darkening
    CHROMOSPHERE
    • The chromosphere is the layer of the Sun’s
    atmosphere immediately above the photosphere.
    • The characteristic red color that gives the
    chromosphere its name is due to strong emission
    from the Hɑ6563 line.
    • The temperature of the chromosphere increases
    with distance from the Sun’s center (unlike the
    temperature structure of the photosphere, where
    the temperature drops with increasing distance).
    • At the top of the photosphere, which constitutes
    the base of the chromosphere, the temperature
    is 4400 K; at the top of the chromosphere, at a
    height of 2500 km above its base, the
    temperature has risen sharply to 9000 K.
    CORONA
    • A corona is the outermost layer of a star's
    atmosphere. It consists of plasma.
    • The Sun's corona lies above the
    chromosphere and extends millions of
    kilometres into outer space. It is most
    easily seen during a total solar eclipse, but
    it is also observable with a coronagraph.
    • Spectroscopic measurements indicate
    strong ionization in the corona and a
    plasma temperature in excess of 1000000
    kelvins, much hotter than the surface of
    the Sun, known as the photosphere.
    Prominence
    • A prominence, sometimes referred to
    as a filament is a large plasma and
    magnetic field structure extending
    outward from the Sun's surface, often in
    a loop shape.
    • Prominences are anchored to the
    Sun's surface in the photosphere, and
    extend outwards into the solar corona.
    • While the corona consists of extremely
    hot plasma, prominences contain much
    cooler plasma, similar in composition to
    that of the chromosphere.
    Corona
    ◆ Has an even higher
    temperature than the
    chromosphere!!!
    • 2 x 106 K!!!
    ◆ Less dense than
    chromosphere

    ◆ Seriously, what is going on?


    • Any guesses???
    Sun’s Magnetic Field
    • Almost the entire Sun is liquid
    charged particles
    • HUGE magnetic field!
    • Complicated magnetic field…
    Magnetic Fields

    Masses produce gravitational fields


    Static charges produce electric fields
    Moving charges produce magnetic fields

    Magnetic Field The sun is a ball of ionized gas


    produced by current

    Current A convective cell is a current loop

    We should expect magnetic fields


    associated with convection
    Magnetic Fields
    Magnetic Fields
    Solar Flares

    The most powerful explosions in the solar system (~1032 ergs)

    Flares are explosions on the surface of the Sun


    powered by magnetic reconnection
    Mag Field Lines
    Plasma follows the magnetic field lines
    ◆ What happens if
    the field lines break
    or meet another
    line???
    ◆ Magnetic fields of
    this magnitude hold
    a lot of energy
    • As much as an
    energy plant in a
    million years.
    Coronal Mass Ejections!
    • Mag lines break and
    eject plasma into space

    • Some are small


    • Flares

    • Some are HUGE!


    • Coronal Mass
    Ejection
    Sunspots

    • Astronomers noticed dark spots appear and vanish


    • Every 11 years

    • Through spectroscopy
    • Lines were slightly different in a Sunspot
    • Sunspots are related to the magnetic field!
    Differential Rotation

    The equator spins faster than the poles

    As any gaseous body, the Sun displays differential rotation.

    25 days at the equator


    35 days at the poles
    Differential Rotation
    ◆ Rotates faster at the equator
    ◆ Slower at the poles

    ◆ The Sun winds up like a rubber band


    ◆ Rubber band breaks
    ◆ Polarity is switched!

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