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What are the general trends in temperature and density from the photosphere to the chromosphere to the corona?
Wiki User
∙ 11y ago
The Sun is a pretty mundane star, like many, many others in the sky, although it is quite large -- it's in the top 10% of stars by mass. However, it has one very special feature as far as we are concerned; and that is its closeness to Earth, some 250,000 times closer than the next-nearest star. Because of this, it appears large in the sky, compared to other stars; and its heat and light keep the Earth from freezing, and in fact, fuel all life on earth.
Solar StatisticsThe Sun is huge: 1,390,000 km. across, compared to the Earth, which is a tiny 12,756 km. across, and is more than 320,000 times heavier than the Earth. In fact, the Sun contains more than 99.8% of the total mass of the Solar System!To get an idea of the incredible scale of the Solar System, look at this diagram of the sizes of the planets (and Pluto), with a corner of the Sun in the background -- at the same scale. Notice how the Earth could comfortably fit under one jet of gas from the Sun -- many times over!
After much wrangling, Pluto's status has been settled, and it is no longer considered to be a planet.
The Sun has a very dense core in which its energy is generated, at a temperature of 15 million degrees Celcius. The Sun is mostly (about 70%) made of hydrogen, but at the core, this is slowly being converted into helium by nuclear fusion; "slowly" meaning that 700 million tons of hydrogen are converted into 695 million tons of helium every second. The "lost" 5 million tons per second of mass is converted to pure energy, in the form of incredibly intense gamma rays. Fortunately for us, as this energy makes its way out through the layers of the Sun, it is continuously absorbed and re-emitted in less energetic forms, until it emerges mainly as heat and light.
The Outer LayersSurrounding the bulk of the Sun's mass is a layer called the photosphere, which is only about 500 kilometres thick, but which is totally opaque; this is what we see as the "surface" of the Sun. The photosphere is relatively cool, at only 5,500 degrees Celcius. Cold dark spots (sunspots) can sometimes be seen in the photosphere; these are actually only cold in relative terms, at about 3,500 degrees. Sunspots can be as much as 50,000 km. across; but nobody really knows what causes them, or how they work.
Surrounding the photosphere is the chromosphere, a layer of gas about 4,000 kilometres thick, glowing with a distinctive red colour (although it's almost completely transparent, and so normally invisible); and around this is the corona, a huge "atmosphere" of very thin but extremely hot gas, at about 2 million degrees Celcius, extending millions of kilometres into space. Nobody quite knows why it's so hot, when the Sun's surface is much cooler.
Solar FireworksExtending into the hot corona are solar prominences, relatively cool (10,000 degrees or so) loops and tongues of gas suspended in the far hotter corona. Prominences can be as far as 50,000 km above the photosphere, and can be as much as 10,000 km thick and 600,000 km long. (You could fit Uranus, the third-largest planet, under one of those prominences!) Solar prominences can occur in active regions of the Sun (ie. where there is significant sunspot activity), or in quiet regions.
Prominences can last several months, and hang suspended, sometimes moving up or down, in the corona; then, at the end of their lives, they typically shoot upwards at several hundred km/s, and dissipate. Since prominences are denser, and hence heavier, than the surrounding coronal gas, there must be something holding them up; although the explanation for this is not fully understood, it is almost certainly to do with the complex magnetic fields of the Sun.
One of the most spectacular features of the Sun is the solar flares. These are basically huge explosions of energy -- equivalent to millions of 100-megaton hydrogen bombs exploding at the same time -- bursting out from the Sun's atmosphere. These flares of energy can extend far out from the Sun's surface, well into the corona, and can be very hot; as much as 100 million degrees. Unlike solar prominences, flares always occur in active regions of the Sun, and are extremely rapid events; a typical flare is over in a few minutes, although the larger flares can last for an hour.
Seeing Is BelievingAs you can see in the picture here, these phenomena are extraordinary and beautiful events. So, how can one observe the chromosphere, corona, and (when the Sun is particularly active) prominences, and solar flares? The immediate problem is that they are too dim to be seen next to the Sun's disk, since the light from the photosphere would totally flood them out -- the corona, for example, is a million times fainter than the photosphere.So, if we block out the photosphere, the Sun's fainter features should become visible -- in theory. This works in space, but on Earth it's no good -- the remaining light from the sky (Sunlight scattered by the atmosphere) means that only blue sky would be visible. So us earthbound mortals can never see the beauty of the Sun's structure -- unless we can arrange for the Sun's photosphere to be blocked by something outside the atmosphere. Wouldn't that be cool! So can the Moon do it?
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
Wiki User
∙ 12y agoWiki User
∙ 11y agoThe temperature increases and density decreases.
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What are the parts of the sun and their function?
The PhotosphereThe Sun has basically the same chemicalelements as found on Earth. However, the Sun is so hot that all of these elements exist in the gaseous state. There is not really a "surface" to the Sun. Think of it this way: the Sun is a bunch of gas which gets denser and denser as you move from space toward the solar core. The photosphere would then represent the depth at which we can see no deeper toward the core. Think of what a thick cloud looks like when you look down on it from an airplane - it looks solid, but it isn't.The Parts of a StarThe Sun's atmosphere changes from being transparent to being opaque over a distance of only a few hundred kilometers. This is remarkable given the size of the Sun, and represents such a huge change that we often think of it as a true boundary. When we speak of the size of the Sun, we usually mean the size of the region surrounded by the photosphere. The photosphere is slightly different from one place on the Sun to another, but in general is has a pressure about a few hundredths of the sea-level pressure on Earth, a density of about a ten-thousandth of the Earth's sea-level atmospheric density, and a temperature in the range 4500-6000 Kelvin.The ChromosphereThe gases which extend away from the photosphere make up the chromosphere. These gases are transparent to most visible radiation. The chromosphere is about 2500 km thick. The density of the gases decreases as you move away from the photosphere into the chromosphere, but the temperature increases! From the bottom to the top of the chromosphere, the average temperature goes from 4500 to 10,000 Kelvin! Needless to say, this rise was not anticipated by scientists when they first measured it. Throughout the rest of the Sun, temperature decreases as you move further away from the core. The Solar Corona seen duringa total eclipseThe CoronaThe chromosphere merges into the outermost region of the Sun's atmosphere, the corona. The corona extends for millions of miles into space above the photosphere. Usually, we cannot see the corona because of the brightness of the photosphere. However, during a total solar eclipse, the corona shines beautifully against the dark sky. The corona has a density about 0.0000000001 times that of the Earth's sea-level atmosphere. It is very hot - millions of Kelvin. Because of this high temperature, the bulk of the radiation from the corona is emitted atultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths. Magnetic fields on the Sun seem to play an important part in heating the gas to such a high temperature. However, the exact way that this happens is not well understood. The image you see to the left was taken during a solar eclipse in 1980; lightfrom the photosphere is blocked out by the Moon (the dark disk). A Few Other Solar FeaturesThe Solar WindThe solar wind is nothing more than a stream of charged particles flowing outward from the Sun with an average velocity of about 400 km/sec. It is a natural consequence of the Sun being so hot - the corona gas has too much energy to be gravitationally bound to the Sun. Sunspots and Their CycleSunspots are cooler regions on the Sun's photosphere (about 1500 K cooler) and so appear to be darker than the photosphere. A given sunspot can have a lifetime ranging from a few hours to a few months. It consists of two parts - the dark inside region called the umbra and the surrounding less dark region called the penumbra. Their sizes vary over a wide range, with a few having been measured to be 50,000 km in diameter! A German amateur astronomer, Heinrich Schwabe, published a paper in 1851 which stated that the number of sunspots visible on average varied with a period of about 10 years. This conclusion has been substantiated by observations over the 140 years since. The period of repetition on average is 11.1 years, but has been as short as 8 years and as long as 16 years.
What is the general relationship between temperature and distance from the sun?
The closer you get to the sun the higher the temperature gets.
Describe in general the structure and interior density pressure and temperature conditions of an average star such as the Sun?
The interior of an average star is modeled after the theoretical pressure, temperature, and density conditions that would be necessary to produce the observed energy and light from the surface. The interior can be described as (1) the core, (2) a radiation zone, and (3) the convection zone. The core is a dense and very hot region where the density fo the core is about 12 times that of solid lead. The radiation zone is less dense and energy in the form of gamma and x rays from the core is absorbed and reemitted by collisions with atoms in this zone. The convection zone begins about seven-tenths of the way to the surface, where the density of the gases is about 1% of the density of water. Gases at the bottom of this zone are heated by radiation from the radiation zone below, expand from heating, and rise to the surface by convection.
What is the temperature of a nebulae?
A nebula, in general, is not particularly hot. They are usually visible due to embedded stars.
How does temperature change as altitude increases through all layers of the atmosphere?
2 degrees per 1000 ft is general answer
In general the density of sea water increases as?
salinity increases and temperature decreases....
What are the parts of the sun and their function?
The PhotosphereThe Sun has basically the same chemicalelements as found on Earth. However, the Sun is so hot that all of these elements exist in the gaseous state. There is not really a "surface" to the Sun. Think of it this way: the Sun is a bunch of gas which gets denser and denser as you move from space toward the solar core. The photosphere would then represent the depth at which we can see no deeper toward the core. Think of what a thick cloud looks like when you look down on it from an airplane - it looks solid, but it isn't.The Parts of a StarThe Sun's atmosphere changes from being transparent to being opaque over a distance of only a few hundred kilometers. This is remarkable given the size of the Sun, and represents such a huge change that we often think of it as a true boundary. When we speak of the size of the Sun, we usually mean the size of the region surrounded by the photosphere. The photosphere is slightly different from one place on the Sun to another, but in general is has a pressure about a few hundredths of the sea-level pressure on Earth, a density of about a ten-thousandth of the Earth's sea-level atmospheric density, and a temperature in the range 4500-6000 Kelvin.The ChromosphereThe gases which extend away from the photosphere make up the chromosphere. These gases are transparent to most visible radiation. The chromosphere is about 2500 km thick. The density of the gases decreases as you move away from the photosphere into the chromosphere, but the temperature increases! From the bottom to the top of the chromosphere, the average temperature goes from 4500 to 10,000 Kelvin! Needless to say, this rise was not anticipated by scientists when they first measured it. Throughout the rest of the Sun, temperature decreases as you move further away from the core. The Solar Corona seen duringa total eclipseThe CoronaThe chromosphere merges into the outermost region of the Sun's atmosphere, the corona. The corona extends for millions of miles into space above the photosphere. Usually, we cannot see the corona because of the brightness of the photosphere. However, during a total solar eclipse, the corona shines beautifully against the dark sky. The corona has a density about 0.0000000001 times that of the Earth's sea-level atmosphere. It is very hot - millions of Kelvin. Because of this high temperature, the bulk of the radiation from the corona is emitted atultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths. Magnetic fields on the Sun seem to play an important part in heating the gas to such a high temperature. However, the exact way that this happens is not well understood. The image you see to the left was taken during a solar eclipse in 1980; lightfrom the photosphere is blocked out by the Moon (the dark disk). A Few Other Solar FeaturesThe Solar WindThe solar wind is nothing more than a stream of charged particles flowing outward from the Sun with an average velocity of about 400 km/sec. It is a natural consequence of the Sun being so hot - the corona gas has too much energy to be gravitationally bound to the Sun. Sunspots and Their CycleSunspots are cooler regions on the Sun's photosphere (about 1500 K cooler) and so appear to be darker than the photosphere. A given sunspot can have a lifetime ranging from a few hours to a few months. It consists of two parts - the dark inside region called the umbra and the surrounding less dark region called the penumbra. Their sizes vary over a wide range, with a few having been measured to be 50,000 km in diameter! A German amateur astronomer, Heinrich Schwabe, published a paper in 1851 which stated that the number of sunspots visible on average varied with a period of about 10 years. This conclusion has been substantiated by observations over the 140 years since. The period of repetition on average is 11.1 years, but has been as short as 8 years and as long as 16 years.
Why does density vary with temperature?
In general as things get hotter they expand, and conversely when they cool they contract. This is most noticeable for gases. As the mass remains constant because density is mass/volume as volume increases when temperature goes up the density decreases. The opposite occurs when temperature drops.
Describe the general weather conditions associated with a high pressure area in terms of temperature?
low density, high humidity
10ml is equal to what mg?
That depends on the density of whatever occupies that volume. The general relationship is:mass = density x volumeThat depends on the density of whatever occupies that volume. The general relationship is:mass = density x volumeThat depends on the density of whatever occupies that volume. The general relationship is:mass = density x volumeThat depends on the density of whatever occupies that volume. The general relationship is:mass = density x volume
Temp. of SUN?
For sure I don't know the general temperature of the sun. The sun's surface, also known as the photosphere is about 5,500 degrees Celsius. The sun's core is about fifteen million degrees Celsius. There are other parts like the radiation zone and the convection zone, but I do not know the temperature for the other parts. Hope this was use full information to you.
What is the population density of General Carneiro?
General Carneiro's population density is 14.8 people per square kilometer.
How do you determine the density?
Density in general is found by Mass divided by the volume
How is volume and density affected when the temperature is decreased?
In general when temperature is decreased the volume decreases and the density increases. This is not true for water around freezingg temperatures, the volume increases and the density decreases and ice floats.
What is the population density of General Isidoro Resquín?
General Isidoro Resquín's population density is 57.48 people per square kilometer.
What the symbol for density?
In general density is represented by the Greek symbol rho (ρ)
In general an increase in temperature?
A general increase in temperature increases the reaction rate.
