By Dr Vipan Goyal

Celestial Bodies
• Celestial bodies are natural objects which is located outside of
Earth's atmosphere, such as the Moon, the Sun, an asteroid,
planet, or star.
• Some celestial bodies are very big and are made up of gases
and heat. They have their own heat and light which is emitted
in large amounts. These celestial bodies are called stars and
our Sun is a star.
 SOLAR SYSTEM – THE UNIVERSE
• Our solar system consists of Sun + 8 Planets + 1 Dwarf planet
(Pluto) + No. of Natural Satellites
• Pluto was demoted to dwarf planet at 26th general assembly of
International Astronomical Union held at Czech republic in 2006
• Only sun has its own light, which is also the nearest star to the
earth
 Components of the Solar System
Sun
Eight major planets,
Dwarf planets (Pluto, Ceres, Eris, makemake, haumea etc.),
Satellites and countless minor planets
Asteroids,
Meteors, and
Comets
Debris etc….
• Nicolaus Copernicus was the first to develop a
mathematically predictive heliocentric system (Sun at
the center).
 Sun

• Sun is located in arm of Milky Way galaxy.

• The Sun, which comprises nearly all the matter in the Solar
System, is composed of roughly 98% hydrogen and helium.
• A body’s closest approach to the Sun is called its perihelion,
whereas its most distant point from the Sun is called its
aphelion.
 Sun
• Age : About 5 Billion years
• Distance : 149.8 Million Kms
• Diameter : 1,38,400 Kms.
• Photosphere temperature : 5,770 K
• Core temperature : 150,000,000 K
 Sun
• Rotation (as seen from the earth at the equator): 25.38 days
• Rotation (near the poles) : 33 days
• The sun consists of 71% of Hydrogen, 26.5% Helium and 2.5%
of other elements.
• The rays of the sun take about 8 minutes and 18 seconds to
reach the earth.
 Sun
• Sun is the only star in our Solar System as it has its own source of
light and energy.
• Mass of the Sun accounts to 99.86% of our Solar System.
• Its average distance from the Earth is around 149,600,000 km.
• Sunlight takes about 8 min 18 secs to reach the Earth.
• Sun’s energy is produced by constant nuclear fusion in its core
through a series of processes called the p-p (proton-proton) chain.
This process converts Hydrogen into Helium.
 Composition of sun
• Hydrogen → 74.9%
• Helium → 23.8%
• Metals → 1.3%
• Compared to the majority of stars in the Milky Way, the Sun
is rather large and bright.
• Sun are rare, whereas substantially dimmer and cooler
stars, known as red dwarfs, are common, making up 85% of
the stars in the galaxy.
 Internal Structure – Atmosphere
• The solar interior, from the inside
out, is made up of the core,
radiative zone and
the convective zone.
• The solar atmosphere above that
consists of the photosphere,
chromosphere, and the corona.
• Beyond that is the solar wind, an
outflow of gas from the corona.
 Core
• The core of the Sun has the highest
temperature and pressure among all
layers.
• The temperature of the core is
around 15 million degree Celsius – is
in ionized state called plasma
• The solar energy is produced in the
core by controlled nuclear
fusion process.
• The high temperature in the core
helps in removing the electrons from
hydrogen atoms and in creating
numerous electrons and protons for
nuclear fusion.
 Radiative Zone
• The Sun’s radiative zone is the
section of the solar interior
between the innermost core
and the outer convective zone.

• In the radiative zone, energy

generated by nuclear fusion in
the core moves outward as
electromagnetic radiation.
 Convective zone
• In this zone the density
of plasma is low.
• This zone transports hot
and light density fluids
from the core region of
high energy &
temperature to the
outer region of low
energy & temperature.
 Photosphere
• The photosphere is the bright outer
layer of the Sun that emits most of
the radiation.
• The effective temperature on the
outer side of the photosphere
is 6000°K (11,000°F).
• This is the first visible layer of the Sun.
• The solar spots are formed on this
layer. The temperature of a solar spot
is around 4500 degrees.
 Solar spots
• Solar spots : Temporary dark
spots formed when the magnetic
field bursts through the surface. It
can slow down the flow of
energy from the inside of the Sun
– that’s what makes the sun spots
cooler & darker than the
surrounding photosphere.
 Chromosphere
• Just above the photosphere is
the chromosphere.
• It is relatively a thin layer of
burning gases.
• Chromosphere literally mean
as ‘sphere of colour’.
 Sunspot
• A dark patch on the surface of
the Sun is known as sunspot.
• Sunspots appear as dark areas
because they are about 1500°
cooler than the surrounding
chromospheres.
 Sunspot
• Each spot has a black center or
umbra, and a lighter region or
penumbra, surrounding it.
• Sun is 1% cooler when it has no
spot, and that this variation in
solar radiation might affect the
climates of the Earth.
 Solar Wind
• Stream of energized charged
particles, primarily electrons and
protons flowing outward from
the sun at speeds as high as 900
km/s and at a temperature of 1
million degrees (Celcius)
• It is made of plasma.
 Effects of Solar Wind
• As the solar wind approaches a planet that has a
well-developed magnetic field (such as Earth,
Jupiter and Saturn), the particles are deflected.
• This region, known as the magnetosphere,
causes the particles to travel around the planet
rather than bombarding the atmosphere or
surface.
• The magnetosphere is roughly shaped like a
hemisphere on the side facing the Sun, then is
drawn out in a long trail on the opposite side.
 Effects of Solar Wind
• The boundary of this region is
called the magnetopause, and
some of the particles are able to
penetrate the magnetosphere
through this region by partial
reconnection of the magnetic
field lines.
• The solar wind is responsible for
the overall shape of Earth’s
magnetosphere.
 Solar flares
• The high magnetic fields in the
sunspot-producing active regions
give rise to explosions known as
solar flares.
• As solar flares push through the
corona, they heat its gas to
anywhere from 10 to 20 million K.
 Solar Prominence
• An arc of gas that erupts from the
surface of the Sun.
• Prominences can loop hundreds of
thousands of miles into space.
• Prominences are held above the Sun’s
surface by strong magnetic fields and
can last for many months.
 Corona
• A corona is a distinctive atmosphere of
plasma that surrounds the Sun and other
celestial bodies.
• The Sun’s corona extends millions of
kilometres into space and is most easily
seen during a total solar eclipse.
• This is the outermost layer of the Sun.
 Aurora
• An aurora is a natural light display in the
sky, predominantly seen in the high
latitude (Arctic and Antarctic) regions.
• This is due to magnetic field lines of earth.
• Auroras are caused by charged particles,
mainly electrons and protons, entering the
atmosphere from above causing ionization
and excitation of atmospheric
constituents, and consequent optical
emissions.
 Aurora Borealis and Aurora
Australis
• Aurora is referred to as polar
lights observed around the
magnetic poles in the northern
as well as in southern
hemispheres.
• It results due to collisions
between electrically charged
particles from the sun and the
earth’s atmosphere.
• These bright polar lights are
known as “Aurora borealis” in the
north and “Aurora australis” in
the south.
Thank You