Chapter 16 Test Review

What is known about the surface of the sun list all applicable facts.

* At a certain point, gas of the sun gets too thin for convection to continue in radiation starts again.

Compare the volume of the sun to the Earth’s volume.

One sun can fit 1.3 million earths inside.

List the regions of the sun in order from the core outward:

Core, radiation zone, convection zone, photosphere, chromosphere, transition zone, corona.

Core

* The central region of earth, surrounded by the mantle. The central region of any planet or star
* Nuclear fusion generates energy

Radiation zone

Photons from the core freely pass through ionized gas

Convection zone

* Area where heated gas transports energy to the surface


* Region of the suns interior, lying just below the surface, where the material of the sun is in constant convection mode

Photosphere

The surface where the visible radiation we see is emitted

Chromosphere

* First layer cooler than the photosphere
* only visible during eclipses
* The sun is the lower atmosphere, lying just above the visible atmosphere

Transition zone

* Area where temperature increases greatly

Corona

* One of the numerous large, roughly circular regions on the surface of Venus, thought to have been caused by upwelling mantle material, causing the planets crust to bulge outward

Defined the solar constant

The amount of energy received at the top of earths atmosphere on a surface oriented perpendicular to the suns rays

Of the sunlight or energy from the sun how much will actually reach the Earth surface? What prevents the rest?

50-70% the rest is absorbed by greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, like carbon dioxide, water vapor, and methane.

By what mechanism does solar energy passed from one layer of the sun to the next

Convection

Explain hydrostatic equilibrium where the sun is concerned

The structure of the Sun is a matter of balance between the pressure outward and the force of gravity inward

What information do vibrations of the sun give us?

the interior structure of the Sun

Define granulation with concern to the sun

The grainy appearance of the solar surface caused by rising (hot) and falling (cool) material in convective cells just below the photosphere

Where does granulation take place in the sun?

Below the photosphere

What is the second most abundant element in the universe?

Helium

What is the most abundant element in the universe?

Hydrogen

By what percentage is the most abundant in the universe?

75% hydrogen

How long is the sun cycle?

Lasts 22 years

What happens during the sun cycle and are there specific areas of the sun that are active or is it all over?

An 22-year cycle during which the number of sunspots rises to a maximum or falls to a minimum

What temperature must be the minimum for a star to be born?

10 million k

Where does the sun make its energy and how is it made?

the sun produces energy by the nuclear fusion of hydrogen into helium in its core.