What is the visible surface of the Sun called quizlet?
The visible surface of the sun is called the photosphere.
Why do sunspots appear dark in pictures of the Sun?
Why do sunspots appear dark in pictures of the Sun? They are too cold to emit any visible light. They are extremely hot and emit all their radiation as X-rays rather than visible light. They actually are fairly bright, but appear dark against the even brighter background of the surrounding photosphere.
What heats the Sun’s corona to high temperatures?
The heat travels along what are called solar magnetic flux tubes before bursting into the corona, producing its high temperature. These magnetic plasma waves are now called Alfvén waves, and their part in explaining coronal heating led to Alfvén being awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1970.
What causes the bubbling pattern of granulation that we see in the Sun’s photosphere quizlet?
Granules on the photosphere of the Sun are caused by convection currents (thermal columns, Bénard cells) of plasma within the Sun's convective zone. The rising part of the granules is located in the center where the plasma is hotter. The outer edge of the granules is darker due to the cooler descending plasma.
What are sun spots?
Sunspots are areas where the magnetic field is about 2,500 times stronger than Earth's, much higher than anywhere else on the Sun. Because of the strong magnetic field, the magnetic pressure increases while the surrounding atmospheric pressure decreases.
Which of the Sun’s layers is called the Sun’s furnace?
The sun's core, more than a thousand times the size of Earth and more than 10 times denser than lead, is a huge furnace. Temperatures in the core exceed 15.7 million kelvin (also 15.7 million degrees Celsius, or 28 million degrees Fahrenheit). The core extends to about 25% of the sun's radius.
What are sunspots called?
Age spots are also called sunspots, liver spots and solar lentigines.
What is a sunspot on the Sun?
Sunspots: One interesting aspect of the Sun is its sunspots. Sunspots are areas where the magnetic field is about 2,500 times stronger than Earth's, much higher than anywhere else on the Sun. Because of the strong magnetic field, the magnetic pressure increases while the surrounding atmospheric pressure decreases.
What is the corona of the Sun?
The corona is the outermost layer of the Sun's atmosphere where strong magnetic fields bind plasma and prevent turbulent solar winds from escape. The Alfvén point is when solar winds exceed a critical speed and can break free of the corona and the Sun's magnetic fields.
What is the Sun’s outer atmosphere called?
The corona The corona is the outermost part of the Sun's atmosphere. The corona is usually hidden by the bright light of the Sun's surface. That makes it difficult to see without using special instruments. However, the corona can be seen during a total solar eclipse.
What is granulation in the Sun?
A granule is a convection cell in the Sun's photosphere. They are caused by convection currents of plasma in the Sun's convective zone, directly below the photosphere. The grainy appearance of the solar photosphere is produced by the tops of these convective cells and is called granulation.
What is corona of the Sun?
The corona is the outermost part of the Sun's atmosphere. The corona is usually hidden by the bright light of the Sun's surface. That makes it difficult to see without using special instruments. However, the corona can be seen during a total solar eclipse.
What is the corona of the sun?
The corona is the outermost layer of the Sun's atmosphere where strong magnetic fields bind plasma and prevent turbulent solar winds from escape. The Alfvén point is when solar winds exceed a critical speed and can break free of the corona and the Sun's magnetic fields.
What are the sun layers?
The inner layers are the Core, Radiative Zone and Convection Zone. The outer layers are the Photosphere, the Chromosphere, the Transition Region and the Corona.
What is the surface of the Sun called?
the photosphere The part of the Sun we call its surface – the photosphere – is a relatively cool 10,000 °F (5,500 °C). In one of the Sun's biggest mysteries, the Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, gets hotter the farther it stretches from the surface.
What is a sunspot on the sun?
Sunspots: One interesting aspect of the Sun is its sunspots. Sunspots are areas where the magnetic field is about 2,500 times stronger than Earth's, much higher than anywhere else on the Sun. Because of the strong magnetic field, the magnetic pressure increases while the surrounding atmospheric pressure decreases.
What are sun spots called?
They vary in size and usually appear on areas exposed to the sun, such as the face, hands, shoulders and arms. Age spots are also called sunspots, liver spots and solar lentigines. Age spots are very common in adults older than 50, but younger people can get them if they spend time in the sun.
What is the surface of the Sun?
the photosphere The part of the Sun we call its surface – the photosphere – is a relatively cool 10,000 °F (5,500 °C). In one of the Sun's biggest mysteries, the Sun's outer atmosphere, the corona, gets hotter the farther it stretches from the surface.
What are sunspots?
Sunspots are areas where the magnetic field is about 2,500 times stronger than Earth's, much higher than anywhere else on the Sun. Because of the strong magnetic field, the magnetic pressure increases while the surrounding atmospheric pressure decreases.
What is the Sun’s surface called?
The photosphere The photosphere is the visible "surface" of the Sun. The Sun is a giant ball of plasma (electrified gas), so it doesn't have a distinct, solid surface like Earth.
What is on the Sun’s surface?
Surface. The Sun doesn't have a solid surface like Earth and the other rocky planets and moons. The part of the Sun commonly called its surface is the photosphere. The word photosphere means "light sphere" – which is apt because this is the layer that emits the most visible light.
What are the bright spots on the Sun?
Sunspots are phenomena on the Sun's photosphere that appear as temporary spots that are darker than the surrounding areas. They are regions of reduced surface temperature caused by concentrations of magnetic flux that inhibit convection.
What is the corona on the Sun?
The corona is the outermost layer of the Sun's atmosphere where strong magnetic fields bind plasma and prevent turbulent solar winds from escape. The Alfvén point is when solar winds exceed a critical speed and can break free of the corona and the Sun's magnetic fields.
What are sunspots and solar flares?
Sunspots are areas that appear dark on the surface of the Sun. They appear dark because they are cooler than other parts of the Sun's surface. Solar flares are a sudden explosion of energy caused by tangling, crossing or reorganizing of magnetic field lines near sunspots.
How bright is the surface of the Sun?
Direct sunlight has a luminous efficacy of about 93 lumens per watt of radiant flux. Multiplying the figure of 1050 watts per square meter by 93 lumens per watt indicates that bright sunlight provides an illuminance of approximately 98 000 lux (lumens per square meter) on a perpendicular surface at sea level.
What are solar flares on the sun?
A solar flare is an intense localized eruption of electromagnetic radiation in the Sun's atmosphere. Flares occur in active regions and are often, but not always, accompanied by coronal mass ejections, solar particle events, and other solar phenomena. The occurrence of solar flares varies with the 11-year solar cycle.
What is a sun soot?
Sunspots are harmless, flat brown spots that develop on areas of skin frequently exposed to the sun. They may also be referred to as age spots or liver spots, though they don't have anything to do with the liver.
What is a sunspot called?
Sunspots consist of a central darker region, known as the umbra, and a surrounding region, known as the penumbra (Image credit: NSO/AURA/NSF.
What is the lumen of the sun?
Our sun puts out 35.73 octillion lumens. That's a lot of sunlight and just a little bit brighter than the brightest headlamp.
Whats brighter than the sun?
The Diamond Light source building at dusk.