Term
| True or False: the sun is not considered an average star? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the sun's spectral type? |
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Definition
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Term
| Why does the sun appear so bright when compared to other stars? |
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Definition
| because it is so close to earth |
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Term
| What is the layer of the Sun's atmosphere above the apparent surface called? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the sun's outermost layer of atmosphere called? |
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Definition
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Term
| Does the temperature of the solar interior increase or decrease as we move inward? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the apparent surface of the Sun called? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the temperature and depth of the photosphere? |
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Definition
temp: 5800 k
depth: 500 km |
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Term
| Is the chromosphere above or below the photosphere? |
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Definition
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Term
| In what region of the chromosphere does the temperature jump from about 10,000k to 1 million? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| parts of cooler gas from the photosphere rising up to chromosphere |
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Term
| the corona have low/high density and cold/hot gas. |
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Definition
| low and hot (1 million K) |
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Term
| What is the constant flow of particles from the Sun called? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the study of wave patterns on the surface of the sun called? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the process in which energy generation in the sun and other stars is done? |
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Definition
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Term
| Up to what element can energy be gained through nuclear fusion? |
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Definition
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Term
| How is energy gained through elements heavier than iron? |
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Definition
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Term
| what is the basic reaction in the core of the sun called? |
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Definition
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Term
| The proton-proton chain consists of converting what? |
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Definition
| 4 hydrogen nucluei to 1 Helium nucleus plus energy |
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Term
| In the radiation zone, what is energy transferred through? |
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Definition
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Term
| IN the convection zone, what is energy transferred through? |
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Definition
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Term
| what are cooler regions of the photosphere called? |
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Definition
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Term
| What are sunspots related to on the photospehre? |
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Definition
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Term
| How long is the total solar cycle? |
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Definition
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Term
| What was the period with little sunspot activity from 1650-1700AD known as? |
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Definition
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Term
| Where does the sun rotate faster at, the equator or the poles? |
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Definition
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Term
| True or false: every 11 years, the order of the leading sunspots is reversted. |
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Definition
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Term
| what are the Northern Lights caused from? |
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Definition
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Term
| what is the orgin of solar wind? |
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Definition
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Term
| what is the term that expresses the amount of energy we receive from the Sun? |
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Definition
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Term
| What does the photosphere do? |
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Definition
| absorbs and re-emits radiation produced in sun |
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Term
| What is nuclear fusion? Nuclear fission? |
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Definition
nuclear fusion: combine light nuclei to make heavier nuclei (nuclear reactors on earth)
nuclear fission: split heavy nuclei into lighter nuclei (sun generates its energy through this) |
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Term
| What are the three layers of the solar atmosphere? |
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Definition
| photosphere, chromosphere, and corona |
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Term
| What is the granulation of the photosphere produced by? |
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Definition
| convection currents of hot gas rising from below |
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Term
| True or false: the limb of the solar disk is brighter than the center. |
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Definition
| false, dimmer than the center |
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Term
| What is the limb darkening evidence of? |
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Definition
| the temperature in the solar atmosphere increases with depth |
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Term
| When is the chromosphere most easily reconizable? What is it's pink color caused by? |
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Definition
| total solar eclipses; caused by Balmer emission lines in its spectrum |
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Term
| What do filtergrams reveal? |
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Definition
| invisible features such as spicules and filaments |
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Term
| when is corona most easily visible and what is used to study them? |
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Definition
| total solar eclipses and coronagraphs |
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Term
| What is the magnetic carpet? |
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Definition
| magnetic field extending up into the atmosphere |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| Why can fusion only occur at the center of the sun? |
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Definition
| because charged particles repel each other |
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Term
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Definition
| a heavy isotope of hydrogen |
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Term
| What three things is energy produced as? |
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Definition
| positrons, neutroninos, and gamma rays |
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Term
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Definition
| because they are cooler than the rest of the photosphere |
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Term
| Early in the sunspot cycle, where do spots appear? later? What diagram shows this? |
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Definition
| farther from the sun's equator earlier, farther later. Shown through the Maunder butterfly effect |
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Term
| what do astronomers use the Zeeman effect to measure? |
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Definition
| magnetic fields on the sun |
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Term
| What are sunspots visible consequences from? |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| sun's magnetic field is strong |
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Term
| what is the sun's magnetic field produced by? where does that operate? |
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Definition
| dynamo effect, which operates at the base of the convection zone |
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Term
| What causes active regions? |
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Definition
| tangles in the magnetic fields go above the surface |
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Term
| When do coronal mass ejections occur? |
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Definition
| when magnetic fields on the surface of the sun send out bursts of ionized gas that flow outward in solar wind |
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