AnultravioletimageoftheSun's

activephotosphereasviewedby
theTRACEspacetelescope.NASA
photo
SolarobservatoryLomnicktt
(Slovakia)builtin1962.
Theblackspotatthetopisadust
devilclimbingacraterwallon
Mars.Thismoving,swirlingcolumn
ofMartianatmosphere(comparable
toaterrestrialtornado)createdthe
long,darkstreak.NASAimage.
causedtheLittleIceAgephenomenonduringtheMiddle
Ages.
[58]
ThevisibleoutersurfaceoftheSuniscalledthephotosphere.
Abovethislayerisathinregionknownasthechromosphere.
Thisissurroundedbyatransitionregionofrapidlyincreasing
temperatures,andfinallybythesuperheatedcorona.
AtthecenteroftheSunisthecoreregion,avolumeofsufficient
temperatureandpressurefornuclearfusiontooccur.Abovethe
coreistheradiationzone,wheretheplasmaconveystheenergy
fluxbymeansofradiation.Abovethataretheouterlayersthat
formaconvectionzonewherethegasmaterialtransportsenergy
primarilythroughphysicaldisplacementofthegas.Itisbelieved
thatthisconvectionzonecreatesthemagneticactivitythat
generatessunspots.
[56]
Asolarwindofplasmaparticlesconstantlystreamsoutward
fromtheSununtil,attheoutermostlimitofthesolarsystem,it
reachestheheliopause.Thissolarwindinteractswiththe
magnetosphereoftheEarthtocreatetheVanAllenradiation
beltsabouttheEarth,aswellastheaurorawherethelinesofthe
Earth'smagneticfielddescendintotheatmosphere.
[59]
Planetaryscience
Planetaryscienceisthestudyoftheassemblageofplanets,
moons,dwarfplanets,comets,asteroids,andotherbodies
orbitingtheSun,aswellasextrasolarplanets.TheSolarSystem
hasbeenrelativelywellstudied,initiallythroughtelescopesand
thenlaterbyspacecraft.Thishasprovidedagoodoverall
understandingoftheformationandevolutionofthisplanetarysystem,althoughmanynewdiscoveries
arestillbeingmade.
[60]
TheSolarSystemissubdividedintotheinnerplanets,the
asteroidbelt,andtheouterplanets.Theinnerterrestrialplanets
consistofMercury,Venus,Earth,andMars.Theoutergasgiant
planetsareJupiter,Saturn,Uranus,andNeptune.
[61]
Beyond
NeptuneliestheKuiperBelt,andfinallytheOortCloud,which
mayextendasfarasalightyear.
Theplanetswereformedintheprotoplanetarydiskthat
surroundedtheearlySun.Throughaprocessthatincluded
gravitationalattraction,collision,andaccretion,thediskformed
clumpsofmatterthat,withtime,becameprotoplanets.The
radiationpressureofthesolarwindthenexpelledmostofthe
unaccretedmatter,andonlythoseplanetswithsufficientmass
retainedtheirgaseousatmosphere.Theplanetscontinuedto
sweepup,oreject,theremainingmatterduringaperiodof
intensebombardment,evidencedbythemanyimpactcratersontheMoon.Duringthisperiod,someof
theprotoplanetsmayhavecollided,theleadinghypothesisforhowtheMoonwasformed.
[62]
Onceaplanetreachessufficientmass,thematerialsofdifferentdensitiessegregatewithin,during
planetarydifferentiation.Thisprocesscanformastonyormetalliccore,surroundedbyamantleand
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