let the sunshine in! (part 1)

Earth Science

May 3rd 2011Mrs. Harris

Today’s goals

• Characteristics of our sun– How does it work? – How hot is it? – What’s it made of?– Is the sun going to explode and engulf the world with

an inescapable fire-y blowtorch of hot gases ?

• Solar events (tomorrow)– What are solar flares and sunspots?– What is solar wind?

Your top 10 Sun facts!

1. The sun is a star. This makes it extremely important for life on Earth. The sun provides us with energy,

which brings life on our planet. It defines the seasons, the harvests, and even the sleep patterns of all living

creatures on Earth.

Your top 10 Sun facts!

2. The sun is the closest star to our planet. Imagine two cars on the road during the night with their headlights

on. One car is closer to you and the other one is far away. Which headlights would seem brighter and

bigger? That explains why we see the sun so big and bright. It is simply the nearest star to Earth.

Your top 10 Sun facts!

3. Remember! The Earth orbits around the sun

Your top 10 Sun facts!

4. The sun is way bigger than the Earth. In fact its radius is 109 times bigger than the radius of the Earth. For those of you who are curious, the sun’s Radius is

696,000km and the Earth’s radius is 6, 376km.

Your top 10 Sun facts!

5. DON’T TOUCH THE SUN! IT’S HOT! The sun’s average surface temperature is 5700 C. Compare that to the

Earth’s average temperature, which is 20 C.

Your top 10 Sun facts!

6. The sun is 150 million km (93 million miles) away from the Earth.

Your top 10 Sun facts!

7. How old is the sun? Can you imagine 4.5 billion years?

Your top 10 Sun facts!

8. We know that the Earth’s structure consists of different layers. The sun also has layers but unlike the Earth, the sun is entirely gaseous;

there is no solid surface.

Your top 10 Sun facts!

9. The sun rotates on its axis approximately once every 26 days. The sun is made of gas, which is why its

different parts rotate at different speeds. The fastest rotation is around the equator and the slowest rotation

is at the sun’s polar regions (more than 30 days).

Your top 10 Sun facts!

10. The sun changes. No matter when or where we look at the sun, we will always see something

interesting. Scientists observe these changes by watching the sunspots. They increase and decrease on

a regular cycle of about 10.8 years.

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/sun_for_kids_main.html

Interior:CoreRadiative ZoneConvective Zone

Atmosphere:PhotosphereChromosphereCorona

Features:SunspotsFlaresProminences

Up to 27 million degrees F

Interior

Lava lamp style

Gives off light!Sphere of color!

Outer layer, not dense but very hot, can

be seen during solar eclipses

Atmosphere

What’s it made of?

What’s it made of?

• Hydrogen…

What’s it made of?• First… a refresher:

• Isotope… a version of an element with a different number of neutrons than usual.

• Atoms are made of protons and neutrons (in the nucleus) and electrons on the outside. “Normally” an equal number of each.

What’s it made of?• First… a refresher:

• Isotope… a version of an element with a different number of neutrons than usual.

• Atoms are made of protons and neutrons (in the nucleus) and electrons on the outside. “Normally” an equal number of each.

• Deuterium – 2 (deuces)• Tritium- 3 (tripod)

What’s it made of?

• Hydrogen… isotopes (tritium and deuterium) collide with each other under extreme heat in the interior of the sun. The two atoms smash into each other so hard that several things happen:

What’s it made of?

• Hydrogen isotopes (tritium and deuterium) collide with each other under extreme heat in the interior of the sun. The two atoms smash into each other so hard that several things happen:

1.) Like cars smashing into each other in a high speed crash, the atoms lose pieces of themselves, atomic particles

What’s it made of?

• Hydrogen isotopes (tritium and deuterium) collide with each other under extreme heat in the interior of the sun. The two atoms smash into each other so hard that several things happen:

2.) Unlike anything else we know of in the universe, an ENORMOUS amount of energy is released into the surrounding area, on the order of 450 times the amount of energy required for a fusion reaction to initiate (talk about a big return on your investment!)

What’s it made of?

• Hydrogen isotopes (tritium and deuterium) collide with each other under extreme heat in the interior of the sun. The two atoms smash into each other so hard that several things happen:

3.) The atomic particles from the Hydrogen atoms that were released during the collision are fused together, forming an entirely new molecule called Helium

Healy yums

http://www.extremescience.com/zoom/index.php/space/35-space-science/114-about-the-sun

How do we know?

• Ok, we’ve never been to the sun, can’t take a sample of it, it’s made of colorless gas… how do we know it’s hydrogen and helium?

Spectroscopy!

http://scope.pari.edu/science.php#Spectroscopy

We are all star stuff!

• A famous quote from Carl Sagan• (an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer,

and science communicator in the space and natural sciences.) wiki

• What does that mean?– Stars fuse atoms and make new elements then explode – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpfoLvlA64o&feature=related

• Is the sun going to explode and engulf the

world with an inescapable fire-y blowtorch of hot

gases !?...

Pew pew! I can’t watch

Find out next time…on another episode of...

Find out next time…on another episode of...

EARTH SCIENCE!Wednesday at noon!