Physical position of the sun and stars. Sun - astronomical information. A powerful magnetic field is observed

(Photo of the sun No. 1)

Information about the sun as one of these stars.

U sun There are characteristics that we find in other stars in the galaxy. For example, the sun, in its size and color of radiation, is a yellow dwarf, like some other stars, the fourth brightest star out of fifty star systems observed by astronomers. This is a single star that emits waves of different lengths (infrared rays, gamma rays, X-rays, radio rays), but most of all the waves are visible, yellow-green. Sun the complex of these radiations (solar wind) significantly affects the Earth, but the earth is not defenseless; it is protected from the harmful effects of solar rays by the atmosphere and magnetosphere.

Composition of the sun– a ball of plasma, that is, of a complex of charged particles that interact with each other, these are the nuclei of helium and hydrogen atoms and also electrons. The result of this interaction is the presence of a magnetic field near the star, which holds the solar satellites - the planets - around it.

Thanks to magnetic processes on the surface of the sun, we observe such sunspots. It is interesting that they appear not one at a time, but in pairs at the places where the distorted magnetic field exits and enters, in the form of whirlpools of hot gas. The distortion of the sun's magnetic field varies in strength in different years. It changes over 11.2 years, this period is called the solar year. Depending on the activity of the sun, sunspots appear and disappear on it.

Brief information about the structure of the sun.

(Photo of the sun No. 2)

What we see on the surface of the sun is called the photosphere; this outer shell of our star is 300 km thick and is in constant motion of energy. Further, heading deeper towards the center of the sun, scientists suggest a convection layer, in which the energy emitted by the core of the star is transferred from the inner layers to the outer ones, where the photons tend outward, are absorbed by the matter of the sun, and are emitted again, they seem to mix there. And of course the sun has a core in the center, which produces nuclear reactions, it is dense and hotter than the surface layer of the sun. The sun also has an atmosphere called the solar corona, but unlike the earth’s, it does not consist of oxygen and carbon dioxide, but it is the radiation of the sun itself, many times hotter than the body of the sun, so during eclipses the corona is clearly visible. It is scattered across As you move away from the star, it is visible at 5 radii of the sun, and further at more than 10 radii of our luminary. The solar satellites, like the Earth, are located inside this corona, but on its far border. Most classical stars have a similar structure.

Erupts from the solar corona sunny wind, which carries with it particles of the sun's body mass. Over 150 years, the sun loses mass (ionized particles - protons, electrons, α-particles) equal to the mass of the Earth. The solar wind actively affects the Earth's atmosphere, for example, it creates auroras and geomagnetic storms.

Information about solar flares and coronal ejections.

From time to time, a burst of energy occurs in the sun's atmosphere, which is called a solar flare; it differs from the ejection of the sun's corona, which will be discussed later in the article. This outbreak takes several minutes in time and is very difficult to predict. The release of energy is so powerful that it significantly affects cellular communications, electromagnetic measuring instruments, and causes electromagnetic storms. Coronal ejections are ejections of solar mass in a part of the sun's atmosphere - the solar corona. It is very difficult to observe them, since the glow of the sun interferes, but it is only possible with the help of special instruments. A coronal ejection consists of plasma (composition of ions, protons, a small amount of helium and oxygen), has the shape of a giant loop and may not coincide in time with solar flares. Some stars in the universe have such flares and ejections, but they are much more powerful than those of the sun and prevent the existence of life on their satellites.

Information about the sun and solar eclipses.

A solar eclipse is when the moon is between the sun and the earth. The sun does not hang in space without moving, it rotates around itself at a certain speed, and the moon does not stand still, but rotates around the sun. And there are periodically segments of time when the night luminary appears clearly between the earth and the sun and partially or completely obscures the light from our view, then you can see the corona of the sun. On average, solar eclipses can be seen 2 times a year from different parts of the globe. During this phenomenon, a round lunar shadow moves across the Earth, which can cover a large city. From the same place, a solar eclipse can be seen with the naked eye only once every 200-300 years.

All about the Sun and its location in the Galaxy.

To put it briefly, our star is located in the Milky Way - a barred spiral galaxy, from its center our star is 26,000 light years away. The Sun moves around the Milky Way, and makes one revolution every 225-250 miles. years. At the moment, our star is located on the edge of the Orion arm from the inside, between the Sagittarius arm and the Perseus arm, this place is also called the “local interstellar cloud” - this is a dense accumulation of interstellar gas with a temperature almost equal to the temperature of the Sun. This cloud, in turn, is located in a “local bubble” - this is the territory of hot interstellar gas, which is more discharged in its structure than the interstellar cloud.

Information about the sun in numbers:

The distance from the earth to the sun (on average) is 149600000 km, 92937000 miles.

The diameter of the solar disk is 1392000 km, 864950 miles, 109 more than the diameter of the earth)

Sun mass - 1.99 x 1030 kg, 333,000 times the mass of the Earth

The average density of the sun is 1.41 g/cm 3 (1/4 of the earth)

Sun surface temperature - 5,470 °C (9,880 °F), sun core temperature - 14000000 °C (25000000 °F)

Output power - 3.86 x 10 26 watts

Rotation period relative to the earth - 26.9 (equator), 27.3 (sunspot zone, 16°N), 31.1 (pole)

Information about the sun - a unique star.

(Photo of the sun No. 3)

Information about the sun and its origin.

There are two main views on the origin of the sun. Atheists and evolutionists believe that the Sun is an ordinary star among many stars that arose in a compressed nebula of gas and dust. But we do not and cannot have solid evidence of such an origin and the process of formation of a star; these are just assumptions based on the belief that there is no intelligent Creator, and everything happened due to a series of accidents. The second view of the origin of the Sun is based on a historical document that has remained unchanged for many centuries - the Bible. So, referring to this historical document, we learn from chapter 1 of Genesis that the Sun, according to His intelligent design, was formed and placed in the galaxy by the Creator Himself of everything material and immaterial. Read more about the scientific view of the origin of the Sun in the article.

All about the youth of the sun in brief.

Information about the sun and its unique constancy.

In order for life to exist on Earth, its star must maintain a positive, constant influence on its satellite. The sun is suitable for this in all respects.

The fate of the sun.

There are different assumptions about how the Sun will end its existence, but these are the assumptions of a limited person who can only guess. But there is evidence more reliable than the fabrications of learned atheists.

The Bible says in Revelation John 6. Verse 12 about the Great Judgment of humanity for their apostasy from the Creator « And when He opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became dark as sackcloth (rags), and the moon became like blood...” The end of the existence of our world is described here in figurative language. And this will not happen in millions of years, as atheists believe, but perhaps in the coming millennia; no one knows this time, but it will definitely happen.

The study of the Sun was carried out by many spacecraft, numbering about two hundred (194), but there were also specialized ones, these are:
The first spacecraft designed to observe the Sun were NASA-built Pioneer series satellites numbered 5-9, launched between 1960 and 1968. These satellites orbited the Sun close to Earth's orbit and made the first detailed measurements of the solar wind.
Orbital Solar Observatory("OSO") - a series of American satellites launched between 1962 and 1975 for the purpose of studying the Sun, in particular, in the ultraviolet and X-ray wavelengths.
SC "Helios-1"- West German AMS was launched on December 10, 1974, designed to study the solar wind, interplanetary magnetic field, cosmic radiation, zodiacal light, meteor particles and radio noise in the circumsolar space, as well as to conduct experiments to record phenomena predicted by the general theory of relativity. 01/15/1976 West German spacecraft launched into orbit Helios-2". 04/17/1976 "Helios-2" (Helios) for the first time approached the Sun at a distance of 0.29 AU (43.432 million km). In particular, magnetic shock waves in the range of 100 - 2200 Hz have been recorded, as well as the appearance of light helium nuclei during solar flares, which indicates high-energy thermonuclear processes in the solar chromosphere. Another interesting observation made by this program is that the spatial density of small meteorites near the Sun is fifteen times higher than near the Earth. Record speed achieved for the first time at 66.7 km/s, moving at 12g.
In 1973, the space solar observatory (Apollo Telescope Mount) on the space station came into operation. Skylab. Using this observatory, the first observations of the solar transition region and ultraviolet radiation of the solar corona were made in a dynamic regime. It also helped discover “coronal mass eruptions” and coronal holes, which are now known to be closely related to the solar wind.
Solar Maximum Study Satellite("SMM") - American satellite ( Solar Maximum Mission- SMM), launched on February 14, 1980 to observe ultraviolet, x-ray and gamma radiation from solar flares during periods of high solar activity. However, just a few months after launch, due to an electronics malfunction, the probe went into passive mode. In 1984, space mission STS-41C on the Challenger shuttle fixed a problem with the probe and launched it back into orbit. After that, before its entry into the atmosphere in June 1989, the device took thousands of images of the solar corona. His measurements also helped to find out that the power of the total radiation of the Sun over a year and a half of observations changed only by 0.01% during the period of maximum solar activity.
Japanese spacecraft Yohkoh(Yoko, "Sunlight"), launched in 1991, made observations of solar radiation in the X-ray range. His findings helped scientists identify several different types of solar flares and showed that the corona, even far from areas of maximum activity, is much more dynamic than previously thought. Yohkoh operated for a full solar cycle and went into passive mode during the 2001 solar eclipse when it lost its alignment with the Sun. In 2005, the satellite entered the atmosphere and was destroyed.
Solar probe "Ulysses" - The European automatic station was launched on October 6, 1990 to measure the parameters of the solar wind, the magnetic field outside the ecliptic plane, and study the polar regions of the heliosphere. Conducted a scan of the equatorial plane of the Sun up to the Earth's orbit. For the first time he registered in the radio wave range the spiral shape of the solar magnetic field, diverging like a fan. He found that the strength of the Sun's magnetic field increases with time and has increased 2.3 times over the past 100 years. This is the only spacecraft moving perpendicular to the ecliptic plane in a heliocentric orbit. In mid-1995 it flew over the south pole of the Sun at its minimum activity, and on November 27, 2000 it flew for the second time, reaching a maximum latitude in the southern hemisphere of -80.1 degrees. 04/17/1998 AC " Ulysses " completed its first orbit around the Sun. February 7, 2007 The Ulysses probe "passed" an important milestone during its mission - for the third time during its flight, it passed above 80 degrees south latitude on the surface of the Sun. This trajectory passage over the polar region of our star began in November 2006 and became the third in the sixteen-year history of the probe’s operation. Once every 6.2 years it makes a revolution around our luminary and during each revolution it passes over the polar regions of the Sun. During the flight, scientists received a lot of new scientific information. During such flybys, the satellite first circles the south pole of the Sun, and then the north pole. Ulysses confirmed the existence of a fast solar wind from the solar poles of approximately 750 km/s, which is less than expected.
Solar Wind Study Satellite Wind" - American research vehicle, launched on November 1, 1994 into orbit with the following parameters: orbital inclination - 28.76º; T=20673.75 min.; P=187 km; A=486099 km. On August 19, 2000, he made his 32nd flyby of the Moon. Using the WIND spacecraft, researchers were able to make rare direct observations of magnetic reconnection, which allows the Sun's magnetic field, conducted by the solar wind, to couple with Earth's magnetic field, allowing plasma and energy from the Sun to flow into Earth's space, causing auroras and magnetic storms.
Solar and Heliospheric Observatory ("SOHO") - A research satellite (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory - SOHO), launched by the European Space Agency on December 2, 1995 with an expected operational life of about two years. It was launched into orbit around the Sun at one of the Lagrange points (L1), where the gravitational forces of the Earth and the Sun are balanced. Twelve instruments on board the satellite are designed to study the solar atmosphere (in particular, its heating), solar oscillations, processes of the removal of solar matter into space, the structure of the Sun, as well as processes in its interior. Conducts constant photography of the Sun. On 02/04/2000, the solar observatory "SOHO" celebrated a kind of anniversary. In one of the photographs taken by SOHO, a new comet was discovered, which became the 100th in the observatory's track record, and in June 2003 it discovered the 500th comet. On January 15, 2005, the 900th tailed wanderer was discovered. And the anniversary, 1000th, was opened on August 5, 2005. On June 25, 2008, using data obtained by the SOHO solar observatory, the “anniversary”, 1500th comet was discovered.
Ongoing observations with SOHO have shown that supergranules are moving across the solar surface faster than the Sun rotates. In January 2003, a group of scientists led by Laurent Gizon from Stanford University managed to explain this mysterious phenomenon. Supergranulation is a pattern of activity that moves in waves across the solar surface. This phenomenon can be compared to the “movement of a wave” in the stands of a stadium, when each of the fans sitting next to each other gets up from their seat for a short time and then sits down, but does not move either to the right or to the left, while creating an illusion for an observer from the side. a wave running across the stands. Similar waves are created by rising and falling supergranules. The waves propagate in all directions across the solar surface, but for some reason they are stronger (have greater amplitude) in the direction of the solar rotation. Since these waves are the most prominent, the illusion is created that they are moving faster than the speed of rotation of the Sun. It is quite difficult to make an assumption about the physical cause of this phenomenon, but probably the rotation itself is the source of supergranulation waves.
Videos made from new observations transmitted by TRACE allowed astronomers to see bright plasma streaks running up and down the coronal loops. Data obtained from SOHO confirmed that these inclusions are moving at enormous speed, and led to the conclusion that coronal loops are not static structures filled with plasma, but rather ultra-high-speed flows of plasma that are “shot” from the solar surface and “ splash" between structures in the corona.
Satellite for studying the solar corona "TRACE" (Transition Region & Coronal Explorer)" launched on April 2, 1998 into orbit with the following parameters: orbit - 97.8 degrees; T = 96.8 minutes; P = 602 km; A = 652 km.
The task is to explore the transition region between the corona and the photosphere using a 30-cm ultraviolet telescope. Study of the loops showed that they consist of a number of individual loops connected to each other. The gas loops heat up and rise along the magnetic field lines to a height of up to 480,000 km, then cool down and fall back at a speed of more than 100 km/s.
On July 31, 2001, the Russian-Ukrainian observatory was launched Coronas-F» to observe solar activity and study solar-terrestrial connections. The satellite is in low-Earth orbit with an altitude of about 500 km and an inclination of 83 degrees. Its scientific complex includes 15 instruments that observe the Sun in the entire range of the electromagnetic spectrum - from optics to gamma-ray.
During the observation period, the CORONAS-F instruments recorded the most powerful flares on the Sun and their impact on near-Earth space; a huge number of X-ray solar spectra and images of the Sun were obtained, as well as new data on the fluxes of solar cosmic rays and ultraviolet radiation from the Sun. /more news from September 17, 2004/.
Genesis satellite launched on August 8, 2001 to study the solar wind. Coming out at the L1 libration point, the American research probe began collecting solar wind on December 3, 2001. In total, Genesis collected from 10 to 20 micrograms of solar wind elements - the weight of several grains of salt - of interest to scientists. But the Genesis device landed very hard on September 08, 2004 (it crashed at a speed of 300 km/h) in the Utah desert (the parachutes did not open). However, scientists were able to extract remnants of the solar wind from the debris for study.
On September 22, 2006, the solar observatory HINODE (Solar-B, Hinode). The observatory was created at the Japanese ISAS Institute, where the Yohkoh Observatory (Solar-A) was developed, and is equipped with three instruments: SOT - solar optical telescope, XRT - X-ray telescope and EIS - ultraviolet imaging spectrometer. The main task of HINODE is to study active processes in the solar corona and establish their connection with the structure and dynamics of the solar magnetic field.
The solar observatory was launched in October 2006 STEREO. It consists of two identical spacecraft in such orbits that one of them will gradually lag behind the Earth, and the other will overtake it. This will make it possible to use them to obtain stereo images of the Sun and solar phenomena such as coronal mass eruptions.

Astronomical data

The Sun is an ordinary star, its age is about 5 billion years. At the center of the Sun the temperature reaches 14 billion degrees. In the solar core, hydrogen is converted into helium, releasing enormous amounts of energy. The Sun has spots on its surface, bright flares occur, and explosions of colossal force can be seen. The solar atmosphere is 500 km thick. and is called the photosphere. The surface of the Sun is bubbly. These bubbles are called solar speckles and can only be seen through a solar telescope. Thanks to convection in the solar atmosphere, thermal energy from the lower layers is transferred to the photosphere, giving it a foamy structure. The sun does not rotate like a solid celestial body like the Earth. Unlike the Earth, different parts of the Sun rotate at different speeds. The equator rotates the fastest, making one revolution every 25 days. As you move away from the equator, the rotation speed decreases, and in the polar regions the rotation takes 35 days. The sun will still exist for 5 billion years, gradually warming up and increasing in size. When all the hydrogen in the central core is used up, the Sun will be 3 times larger than it is now. Eventually the Sun will cool, becoming a white dwarf. At the poles of the Sun, the acceleration of gravity is 274 m/s2. Chemical composition: hydrogen (90%), helium (10%), other elements less than 0.1%. The Sun is 33,000 light years away from the center of our galaxy. It moves around the center of the galaxy at a speed of 250 km/s, making a complete defense in 200,000,000 years.

Meaning in Astrology

As the first favorable planet, it attracts the individual’s attention to the problems of the horoscope house in which it is located, awakens the desire to succeed in these matters, but does not promise unconditional success. In order to achieve results in the affairs of the house where the Sun is located, it is necessary either to have other favorable planets in this house, or to make certain efforts. If there are negative planets in this house, then your whole life will be a pursuit of an unattainable goal. In any case, the position of the Sun in the horoscope shows what its owner wants most.

The sun is our everything! This is light, this is warmth and much more. Without the Sun, life would not have arisen on Earth. Therefore, I really want to dedicate this material to our luminary.

The Sun is the only star located at the center of our solar system and the Earth's climate and weather conditions depend on it.

By galactic standards, our star is barely noticeable, even in the nearest space. The Sun is just one of the stars of average size and mass, among the 100 billion stars found in our Galaxy, the Milky Way alone.

Our star is composed of 70% hydrogen and 28% helium. The remaining 2% is occupied by particles emitted into space and new elements synthesized by the star itself.

The hot gases that formed the Sun—mostly hydrogen and helium—exist in an incredibly hot, electrified state called plasma.

The energy power of the Sun is about 386 billion megawatts and is produced through the process of fusion of hydrogen nuclei, which is commonly called thermonuclear fusion.

In the distant, distant past, the Sun shone weaker than it does now. Continuous observations of radiation maxima over several decades allowed scientists to conclude that the increase in the luminosity of the Sun continues in our time. Thus, in just the last few cycles, the total luminosity of the Sun has increased by approximately 0.1%. Such changes have a huge impact on our lives.

In addition to thermal energy and the light we see, the Sun emits a gigantic stream of charged particles into space called the solar wind. It moves through the solar system at a speed of approximately 450 kilometers per second.

Age of the Sun According to scientists' calculations, it is about 4.6 billion years. This makes it highly likely that it will continue to exist in its current form for another 5 billion years. Eventually, the Sun will engulf the Earth. Once all the hydrogen has burned out, the Sun will exist for another 130 million years, burning helium. During this period it will expand to such an extent that it will engulf Mercury, Venus and Earth. At this stage, it can be called a red giant.

Sunlight takes approximately 8 minutes to reach the Earth's surface. With an average distance of 150 million kilometers to Earth and light traveling at 300,000 kilometers per second, simply dividing one number by the other (distance by speed) gives us an approximate time of 500 seconds, or 8 minutes and 20 seconds. Particles that reach Earth within those few minutes take millions of years to travel from the Sun's core to its surface.

The Sun moves in its orbit at a speed of 220 kilometers per second. The Sun is located almost on the outskirts of the Milky Way, 24,000-26,000 light-years from the center of the galaxy, and therefore takes 225-250 million years to complete one orbit around the center of the Milky Way.

The distance from the Sun to the Earth changes throughout the year. Because the Earth moves in an elliptical orbit around the Sun, the distance between these celestial bodies varies from 147 to 152 million kilometers. The average distance between the Earth and the Sun is called an astronomical unit (AU).

The pressure at the Sun's core is 340 billion times greater than atmospheric pressure at the Earth's surface.

The diameter of the Sun is equivalent to 109 times the diameter of the Earth.

The surface area of ​​the Sun is equivalent to 11,990 times the surface of the Earth.

If the Sun were the size of a football, Jupiter would be the size of a golf ball, and the Earth would be the size of a pea.

The force of gravity on the surface of the Sun is 28 times greater than on Earth. Therefore, a person who weighs 60 kg on Earth will weigh 1680 kg on the Sun. Simply put, we will be crushed by our own weight.

Light from the Sun reaches Pluto's surface in 5.5 hours.

The Sun's closest neighbor is the star Proxima Centauri. It is located 4.3 light years away.

Approximately a trillion solar neutrinos are passing through your body as you read this sentence.

The brightness of the Sun is equivalent to the brightness of 4 trillion trillion 100-watt light bulbs.

An area of ​​the Sun's surface the size of a postage stamp has the light of 1.5 million candles.

The amount of energy reaching the surface of our planet is 6000 times greater than the energy demand of people around the world.

The Earth receives 94 billion megawatts of energy from the Sun. This is 40,000 times the annual requirement of the United States.

The total amount of fossil fuels on planet Earth is equivalent to 30 solar days.

A total solar eclipse lasts a maximum of 7 minutes and 40 seconds.

There are about 4-5 solar eclipses per year.

Physical characteristics of the Sun

The beautiful symmetry of a total solar eclipse occurs because the Sun is 400 times larger than the Moon, but also 400 times farther from the Earth, making the 2 bodies the same across in size in the sky.

The full size of the Sun could accommodate 1.3 million Earth-sized planets.

99.86% of the total mass of the Solar System is concentrated in the Sun. The mass of the Sun is 1,989,100,000,000,000,000,000 billion kg, or 333,060 times the mass of the Earth.

The temperature inside the Sun can reach 15 million degrees Celsius. At the Sun's core, energy is generated by nuclear fusion as hydrogen turns into helium. Since hot objects tend to expand, the Sun would explode like a giant bomb if it weren't for its enormous gravitational force. The temperature on the surface of the Sun is closer to 5600 degrees Celsius.

The Earth's core is almost as hot as the surface of the Sun, which is approximately 5600 degrees Celsius. Colder are certain areas called sunspots (3,800°C).

Different parts of the Sun rotate at different speeds. Unlike regular planets, the Sun is a large ball of incredibly hot hydrogen gas. Due to its mobility, different parts of the Sun rotate at different speeds. To see how quickly a surface rotates, you need to observe the movement of sunspots relative to its surface. Spots at the equator take 25 Earth days to complete one rotation, while spots at the poles complete a rotation in 36 days.

The Sun's outer atmosphere is hotter than its surface. The surface of the Sun reaches a temperature of 6000 degrees Kelvin. But it's actually much smaller than the Sun's atmosphere. Above the surface of the Sun is a region of the atmosphere called the chromosphere, where temperatures can reach 100,000 Kelvin. But that doesn't mean anything. There's an even more distant region called the coronal region, which extends to a volume even larger than the Sun itself. Temperatures in the corona can reach 1 million Kelvin.

Inside the Sun, where thermonuclear reactions occur, the temperature reaches an unimaginable 15 million degrees.

The Sun is an almost perfect sphere with a difference of only 10 km in diameter between the poles and the equator. The average radius of the Sun is 695,508 km (109.2 x Earth's radius).

In terms of magnitude, it is classified as a yellow dwarf (G2V).

The diameter of the Sun is 1,392,684 kilometers.

The sun has a very strong magnetic field. Solar flares occur when energetic streams of charged particles are released by the Sun during magnetic storms, which we see as sunspots. In sunspots, the magnetic lines are twisted and they rotate, just like tornadoes on Earth.

Does water exist on the Sun? Quite a strange question... After all, we know that there is a lot of hydrogen in the Sun, the main element of water, but in order for there to be water, a chemical element such as oxygen is also needed. Not long ago, an international group of scientists discovered that the Sun is water (specifically, water vapor).

The sun in history

Ancient cultures built stone monuments or modified rocks to mark the movements of the Sun and Moon, the changing seasons, created calendars and calculated eclipses.

Despite the correct thinking of some ancient Greek thinkers, many believed that the Sun revolved around the Earth, starting with the ancient Greek scientist Ptolemy introducing the "geocentric" model in 150 BC.

It was not until 1543 that Nicolaus Copernicus described a heliocentric, sun-centered model of the solar system, and in 1610, Galileo Galilei's discovery of the moons of Jupiter showed that not all celestial bodies orbit the Earth.

Solar Research

In 1990, NASA and the European Space Agency launched the Ulysses probe to take the first images of the polar regions of the Sun. In 2004, NASA's Genesis spacecraft brought samples of solar wind back to Earth for study.

The most famous spacecraft (launched in December 1995) that observes the Sun is the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory SOHO, built by NASA and ESA, and continuously monitors the luminary, sending countless photographs back to Earth. It was created to study the solar wind, as well as the outer layers of the Sun and its internal structure. It has imaged the structure of sunspots below the surface, measured the acceleration of the solar wind, detected coronal waves and solar tornadoes, detected more than 1,000 comets, and enabled more accurate space weather predictions.

A more recent NASA mission is the STEREO spacecraft. These are two spacecraft launched in October 2006. They were designed to view solar activity from two different vantage points simultaneously to recreate a three-dimensional perspective of solar activity, allowing astronomers to better predict space weather.

The sun vibrates due to a set of acoustic waves, like a bell. If our vision were sharp enough, we could see the vibrations spreading along the surface of its disk, creating intricate patterns. Astronomers from Stanford University have carefully studied the movements on the surface of the Sun. Solar sound waves typically have a very low vibration frequency that cannot be detected by the human ear. In order to be able to hear, scientists amplified them 42,000 times and pressed for a few seconds of waves measured over 40 days.

Alexander Kosovichev, team leader and member of the Stanford solar oscillation team, has found a simple way to convert data from equipment that measures the vertical motion of the sun's surface into sound. Stephen Taylor, a professor of music at the University of Illinois, composed the music for this video and sounds.

The team used a new method to calculate the spectrum of water at sunspot temperatures. In their research since 1995, the team has documented the presence of water - not in liquid form, of course, but in a vapor state - in the dark areas of sunspots. Scientists compared the infrared spectrum of hot water with sunspots.

Water in sunspots causes something like a "stellar greenhouse effect" and affects the release of energy from the sunspots. Hot water molecules also absorb infrared radiation most strongly in the atmosphere of cold stars.

Sunspots and flares

Since 1610, Galileo Galilei was the first in Europe to observe the Sun using his telescope, thereby laying the foundation for regular studies of sunspots and the solar cycle, which have continued for over four centuries. 140 years later, in 1749, one of the oldest observatories in Europe, located in the Swiss city of Zurich, began making daily observations of sunspots, first by simply counting and sketching them, and later by taking photographs of the Sun. Currently, many solar stations continuously observe and record all changes on the surface of the Sun.

The most famous period of change of the Sun is the eleven-year solar cycle, during which the luminary passes through a minimum and maximum of its activity.

The solar cycle is most often determined by the number of sunspots on the photosphere, which is characterized by a special index - the Wolf number. This index is calculated as follows. First, the number of sunspot groups is counted, then this number is multiplied by 10 and the number of individual sunspots is added to it. A factor of 10 roughly corresponds to the average number of spots in one group; In this way, it is possible to fairly accurately estimate the number of sunspots even in cases where poor observing conditions do not allow direct counting of all small sunspots. Below are the results of such calculations over a huge period of time, starting in 1749. They clearly show that the number of sunspots on the Sun changes periodically, forming a cycle of solar activity with a period of about 11 years.

Currently, there are at least 2 organizations that independently of each other conduct continuous observations of the solar cycle and count the number of spots on the Sun. The first is the Sunspot Index Data Center in Belgium, where the so-called International Sunspot Number is determined. It is this number (and its standard deviation DEV) that is shown in the table already given above. In addition, the number of spots is counted by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. The number of sunspots determined here is called the NOAA sunspot number.

The earliest observations of sunspots at the end of the 17th century, that is, at the dawn of the era of systematic research, showed that the Sun at that time was passing through a period of extremely low activity. This period was called the Maunder Minimum, which lasted almost a century, from 1645 to 1715. Although observations of those times were not carried out as carefully and systematically as modern ones, nevertheless, the passage of the solar cycle through a very deep minimum is considered reliably established by the scientific world. The period of extremely low solar activity corresponds to a special climatic period in the history of the Earth, which is called the “Little Ice Age”.

Everything that happens on the Sun greatly affects our planet and people, but there are two explosive solar events that affect us the most. One of them is solar flares, where radiation waves of tens of millions of degrees suddenly burst through a small area on the surface of the Sun, which can damage telecommunications and satellites. Another type of phenomenon is a coronal mass ejection, where billions of tons of charged particles of energy are ejected from the solar corona at speeds of millions of kilometers per hour. When these massive clouds enter Earth's protective magnetosphere, they compress magnetic field lines and dump millions of trillions of watts of power into the upper atmosphere. This leads to overloads on power lines, resulting in blackouts and damage to all sensitive equipment and all objects in orbit around the Earth.

Often these two phenomena occur together, as was the case in October 2003. Thanks to modern measuring instruments, such an event can be detected at an early stage and allows the necessary measures to be taken.

Analysis of SOHO and Yohkoh data showed that giant X-ray loops in the hot solar corona provide important magnetic connections between sunspots and the Sun's magnetic poles. These giant loops are approximately 500,000 miles long and are filled with 3.5 million F of hot, electrified gas. They appear in the growth phase of the 11-year sunspot cycle and are associated with the release of energy from the spots, which occurs every 1-1.5 years and causes a cyclic reversal of the magnetic poles of the Sun. These compounds are thought to play an important role in the "solar dynamo" - a process that produces the Sun's strong magnetic fields and is the source of sunspots, solar flares and mass ejections that impact Earth.

Spot activity increases from a minimum to a maximum for about 11 years. Those. after 22 years a new cycle begins. During this time, the entire magnetic field of the Sun changes - the north pole becomes south and vice versa; then switch places again in the next cycle.

The sun's surface is covered in bubbles the size of Texas. Granules are parts of plasma with a short lifetime of heat transferred by convection to the surface, like water bubbles in a boiling water surface. The rise and fall of the bubbles produces sound waves that cause sounds to be emitted every 5 minutes.

The most powerful geomagnetic storm in the entire history of observations was the geomagnetic storm of 1859. A complex of events, including both the geomagnetic storm and the powerful active phenomena on the Sun that caused it, is sometimes called the “Carrington Event”, which in the literature is called the “Solar Superstorm”.

The most powerful magnetic storm observed by mankind was in August 1972. It was fast, intense and large, but the most important thing that turned it into a historical phenomenon was the polarization of its magnetic field - opposite to the Earth. When its magnetic field hits the Earth's magnetic field, the two fields combine and send a huge stream into the upper atmosphere. Electrical equipment, telegraphs, and telecommunications were disabled in large parts of Europe and America.

The proton storm was strongest in 1989. It was especially saturated with high acceleration protons, covered with 100 million electron volts of energy. Such protons can penetrate an 11 cm hole in water.

Other facts about the Sun

Only 55% of all American adults know that the Sun is a star.

Exercising in the sun increases energy and calorie expenditure.

According to the proverb, those born at dawn will be smart, but those born at sunset will be lazy.

Heliotherapy is one of the oldest and most accessible methods of treating human ailments. No wonder they say that where the sun comes, diseases go away.

According to research, the sun's rays act on specific receptors in the human retina, which sends a signal to the brain to produce more serotonin. And, as we all know, this is the hormone of happiness.

Just 15 minutes of daily sun exposure is enough to force the body to produce the required amount of vitamin E, which is vital for our body.

Skin pigmentation protects the deeper layers of the body from exposure to ultraviolet rays.

The color of the sky depends primarily on layers of air pollution, such as smoke or dust. The normal color of the sky is blue due to the refraction of sunlight by atmospheric hydrogen.

Red sunsets are caused by heavy pollution in the atmosphere. When sunlight passes through the atmosphere, layers of rays with shorter wavelengths retain and absorb only rays with longer wavelengths passing through the atmosphere, which are red, orange and yellow rays. Large amounts of dust and dirt even stop the yellow light and only the red cross.

Red skies are especially noticeable during volcanic eruptions.

Since ancient times, the Sun has delighted people all over the world. It is no coincidence that in various parts of our planet solar myths and cults existed, and in some places still exist, which to one degree or another are characterized by the veneration of the Sun. They played an important role in the religions of the Egyptians, Indians, Indians, and also, according to some scholars, in the Slavic religions. Without yet having the equipment that modern scientists have, and not knowing what the internal structure of the Sun was, our ancestors understood that it was the source of life on Earth.

The Sun is one of the stars of the Milky Way, the only star in the Solar System. According to the spectral classification, it belongs to the class of yellow dwarfs. The Sun is not a very hot and relatively small star, but relative to the Earth its size is enormous. At all points of the Sun, a balance of gravity and gas pressure is always maintained. These forces act in opposite directions to each other. Thus, thanks to their optimal ratio, the Sun remains a fairly stable astronomical body. The composition and internal structure of the Sun are currently quite well studied.

Composition of the Sun

The Sun contains approximately 75% hydrogen and 25% helium by mass (92.1% hydrogen and 7.8% helium by number of atoms). Other elements (silicon, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, magnesium, calcium, chromium, iron, nickel, carbon and neon) make up only 0.1% of the total mass.

Scientists have long tried to get an idea of ​​the composition and internal structure of the Sun, using astronomy methods such as observation, spectroscopy, theoretical analysis, etc. As a result, they came to the conclusion that thanks to the explosion, a star was born, consisting mainly of helium and hydrogen. Their ratio varies because deep in the Sun, hydrogen is converted into helium due to the constant process of nuclear fusion. The launch of this process is impossible without extremely high temperature and large mass of the celestial body.

Internal structure of the Sun

The sun is a spherical body in equilibrium. At equal distances from the center, the physical indicators are the same everywhere, but they change steadily as you move from the center to the conditional surface. The sun has several layers, and their temperature is higher the closer they are to the middle. It should be mentioned that helium and hydrogen in different layers have different characteristics.

solar core

The core is the central part of the Sun. It has been established experimentally that the size of the solar core is approximately 25% of the entire radius of the Sun and consists of highly compressed matter. The mass of the core is almost half of the total mass of the Sun. Conditions at the core of our star are extreme. Temperature and pressure reach their maximum there: the temperature of the core is approximately 14 million K, and the pressure in it reaches 250 billion atm. The gas in the solar core is more than 150 times denser than water. This is exactly the place where the thermonuclear reaction occurs, accompanied by the release of energy. Hydrogen turns into helium, and with it light and heat appear, which then reach our planet and give it life.

At a distance from the core of more than 30% of the radius, the temperature becomes less than 5 million degrees, so nuclear reactions almost no longer occur there.

Radiative transfer zone

The radiative transfer zone is located at the core boundary. Presumably, it occupies about 70% of the entire radius of the star and consists of hot matter through which thermal energy is transferred from the core to the outer layer.

As a result of the thermonuclear reaction occurring in the solar core, various radiation photons are produced. Having passed through the radiative transfer zone and all subsequent layers, they are thrown into space and wander around there along with the solar wind, which reaches the Earth from the Sun in just 8 minutes. Scientists have been able to establish that it takes photons approximately 200,000 years to overcome this zone.

Not only the Sun, but also other stars have a radiative transfer zone. Its magnitude and strength depend on the size of the star.

Convective zone

The convection zone is the last in the internal structure of the Sun and other stars similar to it. It is located outside the radiative transfer zone and occupies the last 20% of the Sun's radius (about a third of the star's volume). The energy in it is transferred by convection. Convection is the transfer of heat in jets and currents through active mixing. This process is similar to boiling water. Streams of hot gas move to the surface and give off heat outside, and the cooled gas rushes back into the depths of the Sun, due to which the nuclear fusion reaction continues. As it approaches the surface, the temperature of the material in the convective zone drops to 5800 K. Almost all stars have a convective zone, like a radiative transfer zone.

All of the above layers of the Sun are not observable.

Atmosphere of the Sun

Above the convective zone there are several observable layers of the Sun - the atmosphere. Its chemical composition is determined by spectral analysis. The internal structure of the Sun's atmosphere includes three layers: the photosphere (translated from Greek as “sphere of light”), the chromosphere (“colored sphere”) and the corona. It is in the last two layers that magnetic flares occur.

Photosphere

The photosphere is the only layer of the Sun visible from our planet. The temperature of the photosphere is 6000 K. It glows with white-yellow light. It is the middle of this layer that is considered the conventional surface of the Sun and is used to calculate distances, that is, to measure height and depth.

The thickness of the photosphere is about 700 km, it consists of gas and emits solar radiation reaching the Earth. The upper layers of the photosphere are colder and more rarefied than the lower ones. Waves arising in the convective zone and photosphere transfer mechanical energy to the overlying regions and heat them. As a result, the upper part of the photosphere is the coldest - about 4500 K. On both sides of them the temperature rises rapidly.

Chromosphere

The chromosphere is the highly rarefied air shell of the Sun, next to the photosphere, consisting mainly of hydrogen. Due to its extraordinary brightness, it can only be seen during a total solar eclipse. The word "chromosphere" is translated from Greek as "colored sphere". When the Moon obscures the Sun, the chromosphere becomes pinkish due to the presence of hydrogen. This layer is cooler than the previous one because its density is lower. The temperature of gases in the upper layers of the chromosphere is 50,000 K.

At an altitude of 12,000 km above the photosphere, the hydrogen spectrum line becomes indistinguishable. Traces of calcium were recorded slightly higher. Its spectrum line ends after another 2,000 km. The farther from the surface of the Sun, the hotter and more rarefied the gas is.

Crown

At an altitude of 14,000 km above the photosphere, the corona begins - the third outer shell of the Sun. The corona consists of energetic eruptions and prominences - special plasma formations. Its temperature varies from 1 to 20 million K, there are also coronal holes with a temperature of 600 thousand K, where the solar wind comes from. Starting from the bottom, the temperature increases, and at an altitude of 70,000 km from the surface of the Sun it begins to decrease.

The upper limit of the corona has not yet been determined, nor has the exact cause of the unusually high temperature. Like the chromosphere, the solar corona is also visible only during eclipses or when using special equipment. The solar corona is a powerful source of constant X-ray and ultraviolet radiation.

Today, humanity knows quite a lot about the internal structure of the Sun and the processes occurring in it. Technological progress has greatly contributed to the clarification of their nature. By gaining knowledge about the Sun, you can get an idea about other stars. But since the Sun can only be observed from afar, it still has many unsolved mysteries.