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Michael K. Rulison
(http://sites.oglethorpe.
edu/mrulison/)
Professor of Physics

Chapter 16: Sun

(http://sites.oglethorpe.edu/mrulison/files/2016/07/sun1-18z1vz6.gif)

Robotic solar viewing telescope is at: http://eyes-on-the-skies.org/ (http://eyes-on-the-skies.org/)

Visit the virtual sun at: http://www.michielb.nl/sun/kaft.htm (http://www.michielb.nl/sun/kaft.htm)

Archive of solar images at various wavelengths is at: http://mesola.obspm.fr/ (http://mesola.obspm.fr/)

Visit the high altitude observatory at: http://www.hao.ucar.edu/ (http://www2.hao.ucar.edu/)

Visit the SOHO site at: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/ (http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/)

Space Weather at: http://www.spaceweather.com/ (http://www.spaceweather.com/)

(http://sites.oglethorpe.edu/mrulison/files/2016/07/sun2-rxzif6.gif)

The Sun is a self-luminous ball of gas held together by its own gravity and powered by thermonuclear
fusion in its core. Our Sun is a typical star among the various stars in the Galaxy, average in mass, size
and temperature. It is a dwarf star (compared to supergiant stars, see Chap 17) with a radius of 109
Earth radii and a mass of 3.3105 Earth masses.

The Suns lifetime is about 10 billion years, meaning that after this time the hydrogen in its core will be
depleted. The Sun will then evolve into a red giant, consuming Mercury, Venus and the Earth in its
expanded envelope. The Sun is currently 5 billion years old.

The most outstanding characteristic of the Sun is the fact that it emits huge quantities of
electromagnetic radiation of all wavelengths. The total output of the Sun, called the solar constant, is
3.991033 ergs/sec. Only 1.81024 ergs/sec strikes the Earth (since it is small in angular size), but the
amount of energy reaching the Earth in 30 minutes is more than the power generated by all of human
civilization. This energy is what powers the atmosphere and our oceans (storms, wind, currents,
rainfall, etc.).

The energy emitted by the Sun is divided into 40% visible light, 50% IR, 9% UV and 1% x-ray, radio, etc.
The light we see is emitted from the surface of the Sun, the photosphere. The Sun below the
photosphere is opaque and hidden.

Solar Structure:
The Sun is divided into seven regions based on the physical characteristics of these regions. The
boundaries are not sharp.

fusion core region of energy generation (0-200,000 km)

radiation zone the region where energy transport is by radiation flow (200,000-500,000 km)

convection zone the region where energy transport is by convection cells (500,000-696,000 km)

photosphere the surface where photons are emitted (696,000-696,500 km)

chromosphere the atmosphere of the Sun (696,500-698,000 km)

transition zone the region where the temperature rises dramatically (698,000-706,000 km)

corona the superhot region where the solar wind originates (706,000-10,000,000 km)

[solar wind solar material escaping into space] (>10,000,000 km)

(http://sites.oglethorpe.edu/mrulison/files/2016/07/sundiag-13lhazl.gif)

The radii and temperatures of these regions are the following:

Region Temperature (K) Density (kg/m3)

Core 15,000,000 150,000

Radiation Zone 7,000,000 15,000

Convection Zone 2,000,000 150

Photosphere 5800 2 X 10-4

Chromosphere 4500 5 X 10-6

Transition Zone 8000 2 X 10-10

Corona 1,000,000 10-12

Solar Wind 2,000,000 10-23

The Sun rotates differentially since it is not a solid. The solar equator completes one rotation in 25 days.
The poles complete one rotation in 36 days.

Suns Interior:
Stars form from clouds of gas and collapse under self-gravity. The collapse is stopped by internal
pressure in the core of the star. During the collapse, the potential energy of infalling hydrogen atoms is
converted to kinetic energy, heating the core. As the temperature goes up, the pressure goes up to stop
the collapse. The heat from the collapse is sufficient for the Sun to shine, but only for a timescale of 15
million years (called the Kelvin-Helmholtz time). Since the Sun is 5 billion years old, then it must be
producing its own energy rather than shining on leftover energy from formation (like Jupiter).

The structure of the Sun is determined by 5 relations or physical concepts:

1.) hydrostatic equilibrium the fact that pressure balances the self-gravity
(http://sites.oglethorpe.edu/mrulison/files/2016/07/hydrostatic_equilibrium-2g7xwo1.gif)

2.) thermal equilibrium the amount of energy generated equals the amount radiated away

(http://sites.oglethorpe.edu/mrulison/files/2016/07/thermal_equilibrium-1cbilce.gif)

3.) opacity the resistance of the solar envelope to the flow of photons (how fast the energy is released)

(http://sites.oglethorpe.edu/mrulison/files/2016/07/opacity-10lkjgc.gif)

4.) energy transport how energy is transported from the core to the photosphere (convection or
radiation)
(http://sites.oglethorpe.edu/mrulison/files/2016/07/radiation_transport-292202g.gif)

(http://sites.oglethorpe.edu/mrulison/files/2016/07/convection_beaker-1ui89yr.gif)

There are three ways to transfer energy; conduction, convection and radiation.
Conduction, the collisional transfer of energy between atoms, only occurs between
solids (such as a hot pan and your hand), so is not found in the Sun. Convection is
the motion of heated material, such as bubbles in boiling water. Radiation is the
transfer of energy by electromagnetic waves (light). Only convection and radiation
transfer are important in the Sun and the opacity determines which method is used.
When the temperature is high and all the atoms are stripped of their electrons, the opacity is low and
radiation transfer is dominant.

When the temperature drops, such as in the outer layers of the solar interior, the protons and electrons
recombine to form atoms and the opacity goes up. High opacity slows the transfer of energy by
radiation, so bubbles form. These bubbles are hot and low in density, thus starting a convective flow.

(http://sites.oglethorpe.edu/mrulison/files/2016/07/convective_transport-13fp9o2.gif)

5.) energy production in the case of stars, energy is produced by thermonuclear fusion (see below)

These 5 relationships, described as mathematical formulae, show how energy is generated, how that
energy effects the structure of the Sun and how that energy is transported to the surface to make the
Sun shine.

Thermonuclear Fusion:
Energy generation is the heart of the solar process. Normally, particles with like charges (positive-
positive or negative-negative) repel each other, this is called electrostatic repulsion. But at
temperatures above 15106 K, the motions of protons are high enough to overcome the electrostatic
forces and the nuclei can fuse. Nuclear reactions involve many elementary particles that make up all
of matter (this is called the Standard Model (http://particleadventure.org/)). The primary output from
nuclear reactions are photons in the form of gamma-rays, but a large number of other particles are
important as well.

(http://sites.oglethorpe.edu/mrulison/files/2016/07/elementary_particles-1r040ng.gif)

This fusion reaction in the Sun is called the proton-proton chain (the same process that powers H-
bombs). It has the following four stages:

(http://sites.oglethorpe.edu/mrulison/files/2016/07/pp_chain_1-2gnv9do.gif)

(http://sites.oglethorpe.edu/mrulison/files/2016/07/pp_chain_2-1wseynj.gif)
(http://sites.oglethorpe.edu/mrulison/files/2016/07/pp_chain_3-1vx7d5t.gif)

(http://sites.oglethorpe.edu/mrulison/files/2016/07/pp_chain_4-11d6nv7.gif)

All the gamma-rays in the core are scattered many, many times. Each scattering exchanges energy so
that the photons convert into visible, UV, IR and radio photons, as well as high energy ones, producing a
thermal spectrum.

There are several tests to a solar model produced from the above relationships:

1.) Solar oscillations the Sun is not in perfect balance (hydrostatic equilibrium) but oscillates with
periods from 5 to 160 minutes. The details are similar to seismic waves and are used to investigate the
density changes in the core.
2.) Solar neutrinos since the interact weakly with matter, solar neutrinos created during the proton-
proton chain reactions are a direct look into the current reaction rates. Large underground neutrino
detectors, such as the Super Kamiokande in Japan, are currently detecting less than a 1/3 of the number
of neutrinos then what is predicted by the equations.

Photosphere:
The photosphere is the effective surface of the Sun since it is the point where the photons break free
of scattering and zip into outer space. However, the photosphere is not a thin surface, but rather has a
thickness of about 100 km. Within that 100 km, the temperature drops from 6000 K at the bottom to
4000 K at the top. Lower temperature means less luminosity fromPlancks curve, so the edge of the
Suns disk is darker than the center, this is called limb darkening.

There are several features seen within the photosphere:

1.) faculae large, bright regions

2.) granules small (1000 km wide), bright regions that change brightest on the order of several
minutes are
tops of convection cells

3.) sunspots dark regions that travel in pairs (north and south magnetic poles)

Sunspots pairs are due to magnetic flux tubes on the surface of the Sun. The flux tubes carry energy
away causing the surface to be cooler (1800 degrees cooler) than the surrounding material, thus their
darker appearance. The sunspots always travel with a north and south pole, oriented along the
equator. The number of sunspots per year varys with an 11 year cycle and the peaks are associated
with times of high solar activity (many flares and solar storms).

(http://sites.oglethorpe.edu/mrulison/files/2016/07/sunspot_cycle-2d9e4c1.gif)

During the 11 year cycle, sunspot pairs are created at high solar latitudes and move towards the
equator during the cycle. This effect is seen in the Maunder butterfly diagram. The typical lifetime of a
sunspot is one or two solar rotations.

The origin of sunspots and the 11 year cycle are related. The solar magnetic field is unlike the magnetic
fields of planets in that it is a surface magnetic field, instead of extending into space it is confined to the
photosphere. Magnetic flux tubes can only be created when the surface field lines distort and overlap
until a loop pops off the photosphere. The endpoints of the loop become the north and south poles of
the sunspot. The process begins with a quiet Sun (low activity) and magnetic field lines that are smooth
and lined up north/south on the Suns surface. The differential rotation of the Sun causes the magnetic
lines to wrap up.
(http://sites.oglethorpe.edu/mrulison/files/2016/07/sunspot_origin-255lq74.gif)

After the solar cycle peaks, the energy is released from the magnetic fields and the field lines relax to
their original, smooth north/south orientation. Then, cycle begins again. Total time for the whole
process is 11 years.

Chromosphere:
The chromosphere is a pinkish atmosphere above the Suns photosphere. It emits an emission spectrum
to indicate it is a very hot gas (20,000 K). The most complex and transient solar phenomena occur in the
chromosphere including:

1.) solar flares-

(http://sites.oglethorpe.edu/mrulison/files/2016/07/eruptiv
e-29kkvn9.jpg)

Sunspots are a vortex of gas on the surface of the Sun

associated with strong local magnetic activity. Spots look
dark only by contrast with the surrounding photosphere, which is several thousand degrees hotter. The
dark centre of a spot is called the umbra; the outer, lighter ring, the penumbra. Spots may be several
times larger than the Earth or so small that telescopic observation is difficult. They may last for
months. Single spots do appear, but most are in pairs or groups, with the members of a pair (leader and
follower in respect to the direction of the Suns rotation) having opposite magnetic polarity. This
polarity reverses from one solar cycle to the next; i.e., if leaders in one cycle are north magnetic poles,
leaders in the succeeding cycle will be south poles. Leaders and followers in one hemisphere of the Sun
are almost always opposite in polarity from their counterparts across the equator.

Some large spots are visible to the unaided eye when the Sun is seen through clouds or in a camera-
obscura image. But general acceptance of the reality of these apparent flaws in the Sun came only
about 1611, when systematic study was begun independently by Galileo, Thomas Harriot, Johannes
Fabricius, and Christoph Scheiner. S.H. Schwabe in 1843 announced discovery of the solar cycle, in
which the number of spots reaches a maximum about every 11 years on the average, as do the effects
of solar disturbances (e.g., auroras) on the Earth.

By observing spots, R.C. Carrington found (c. 1860) that the Sun rotates not as a solid body but
differentially, fastest at the equator. Sunspots are never seen exactly at the equator or near the poles.
Vilhelm Bjerknes theorized in 1926 that spots are the erupting ends of magnetic vortices broken by the
Suns differential rotation. Various elaborations on this idea have been proposed, but the cause of
sunspots is still uncertain. George Ellery Hale in 1908 discovered their magnetic fields; John Evershed
in 1909 detected the radial motion of gas away from sunspot centres. Annie Russel Maunder in 1922
charted the latitude drift of spots during each solar cycle. Her chart is sometimes called the butterfly
diagram because of the winglike shapes assumed by the graph. Each solar cycle begins with small spots
appearing in middle latitudes of the Sun. Succeeding spots appear progressively closer to the Suns
equator as the cycle reaches its maximum level of activity and declines.

2.) solar arcs

(http://sites.oglethorpe.edu/mrulison/files/2016/07/loops-

1nzceno.gif)

3.)prominences
(http://mw01.oglethorpe.edu/faculty/~m_rulison/Astronomy/Chap%2016/Images/sund.avi)

Solar flares, arcs and prominences are linked to sunspot activity. Gas is trapped in the flux lines created
by the sunspot pairs and lifted off the photosphere into the chromosphere. Over a period of a few
hours, the magnetic fields collapse hurling the hot gas outward (much like a breaking rubber band).
These event also create a large flux of high energy particles which reach the Earth as magnetic storms
and cause a sharp increase aurora activity.

A magnetic storm is a disturbance of the Earths upper atmosphere brought on by solar flaresi.e.,
bright eruptions from the visible portion of the Suns chromosphere. The material associated with these
flares consists primarily of protons and electrons with an energy of a few thousand electron volts.
Called plasma, this material moves through the interplanetary medium at speeds ranging from 1,000 to
2,000 km (600 to 1,200 miles) per second, so that the ejected material reaches the Earth in
approximately 21 hours. The pressure of the incoming plasma is transmitted to the outer edge of the
Earths magnetosphere; this causes an increase in the observed geomagnetic field at the ground,
perhaps through hydromagnetic waves.

During these few minutesthe sudden-commencement phaseof the storm, the horizontal component
of the geomagnetic field increases suddenly over the entire globe. The increase persists for two to six
hours and is classified as the initial phase of the storm. One theory holds that, during the initial phase,
added pressure on the Earths magnetosphere causes the tail of the magnetosphere to be extended. In
response to this unstable condition, the newly created magnetic lines in the interior of the tail contract
rapidly, thereby sending plasma from the neutral sheet of the magnetosphere toward the night side of
the Earth. This plasma injection results in intense auroral displays in the polar regions, while the
contractions are observed on the Earth as a severe magnetic disturbance known as a polar substorm.
This portion of the storm is followed by the storms main phase, lasting 12 to 48 hours, during which
the horizontal component of the field decreases, probably because of the injection or inflation of the
magnetosphere by the incoming plasma. In the last stages, or recovery phase, the newly injected
plasma drains slowly over several days into the interplanetary medium or the atmosphere, and the
geomagnetic field approaches its pre-storm condition.

Corona:
The corona of the Sun is a large, white halo of glowing gas visible during a total eclipse. The corona gas
is extremely hot (temperatures on order of a million degrees) and is the source of the solar wind.

(http://sites.oglethorpe.edu/mrulison/files/2016/07/plrplms-1t4t9dg.jpg)

The solar wind is a flux of particles, chiefly protons and electrons together with nuclei of heavier
elements in smaller numbers, that are accelerated by the high temperatures of the solar corona, or
outer region of the Sun, to velocities large enough to allow them to escape from the Suns gravitational
field. The solar wind is responsible for deflecting both the tail of the Earths magnetosphere and the
tails of comets away from the Sun. At a distance of one astronomical unit (the mean distance between
the Earth and the Sun, or about 150,000,000 km), during a relatively quiet period, the wind contains
approximately 1 to 10 protons per cubic centimetre moving outward from the Sun at velocities of 350
to 700 km (about 220 to 440 miles) per second; this creates a positive ion flux of 108 to 109 ions per
square centimetre per second, each ion having an energy equal to at least 15 electron volts. During
solar flares, the proton velocity, flux, plasma temperature, and associated turbulence increase
substantially.

When the solar wind encounters the Earths magnetic field, a shock wave results, the nature of which is
not fully understood. The portion of the solar wind that does not interact with the Earth or the other
planets continues to travel to a distance of approximately 20 astronomical units, at which point it cools
and eventually diffuses into galactic space.

The solar wind is a constant stream of solar particles moving at faster than the escape velocity of the
Suns gravitational field. They escape through windows in the solar corona called coronal holes, regions
where the magnetic fields are weak and the charged solar wind particles are not trapped in magnetic
bottles.

X-ray and UV pictures of the corona show that the hot gas is connected to the magnetic features in the
photosphere. Those low level structures extending into long streamers in the outer corona and heat the
corona to its million degree temperatures.
(http://sites.oglethorpe.edu/mrulison/files/2016/07/eitfexii-134lrjv.jpg)

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