The Photosphere is lowest layerzone located in the atmosphere of the Sun. It emits the light that is seen by the naked eye when we look up at the sun. The photosphere is just about 300 miles (500 kilometers) thick however the light that we see mostly comes from lowest part of its layer which is about 100 miles (150 kilometers) thick. This part is often referred to as the suns surface. At the lowest layer of the photosphere, the temperature is 6400 Kelvin, at the top it is around 4400 Kelvin.The photosphere consists of numerous granules, which are the tops of granulation cells. A typical granule exists for 15 to 20 minutes. The average density of the photosphere is less than one-millionth of a gram per cubic centimeter. This may seem to be an extremely low density, but there are tens of trillions to hundreds of trillions of individual particles in each cubic centimeter.
Chromosphere
After the photosphere the next zone is the Chromosphere. Its main characteristic is a rise in temperature, which reaches just about 10,000 Kelvin in some places and 20,000 Kelvin in others.The Chromosphere was first detected during total eclipses of the sun. The spectrum of the chromosphere is visible after the moon covers the photosphere, but before it covers the chromosphere. This time frame lasts only a few seconds. The emission lines in the spectrum seem to flash suddenly into visibility, so the spectrum is known as the flash spectrum. The chromosphere is apparently made up entirely of spike-shaped structures called spicules (SPIHK yoolz). A normal spicule is about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) across and up to 6,000 miles (10,000 kilometers) high. The density of the chromosphere is about 10 billion to 100 billion particles per cubic centimeter.
Transition region
Between the two zones of the chromospheres which ranges to about 20,000 Kelvin and the Corona which is hotter due to its temperature being 500,000 Kelvin is a region of intermediate temperatures which is known as the chromosphere-corona transition region, in simpler terms - the transition region. The transition region receives a lot of its energy from the overlying corona not only that the region emits most of its light in the ultraviolet spectrum. The thickness of the region varies from a few hundred to a few thousand miles or kilometers. In some places, relatively cool spicules extend from the chromosphere high into the solar atmosphere. It has been theorized that there maybe nearby areas where coronal structures reach down close to the photosphere.
Corona
Corona is the hottest part of the suns atmosphere wherein the temperature exceeds that of 500,000 K. The corona consists of structures such as loops and streams of ionized gas. The structures connect vertically to the solar surface, and magnetic fields that come from inside the sun mold them. The temperature of any given structure created by there methods varies along each field line. Closer to the surface, the temperature is typical of the temperatures found in the photosphere. At higher temperature levels, it has chromospheric values, then values of the transition region and then finally coronal values.
The temperature of the part of the corona nearest to the solar surface is about 1 million to 6 million Kelvin, and the density is about 100 million to 1 billion particles per cubic centimeter. The temperature reaches tens of millions of Kelvins when a flare occurs.
Sunspots
Sunspots are dark, often roughly circular features on the solar surface. They form where denser bundles of magnetic field lines from the solar interior break through the surface.
The Sun in our solar system has been burning brightly for the past 5 billion years however its rate of burning through its nuclear fuel has not been a steady one. The Sun actually goes through two phases a quiet phase and an active phase the only difference between the two is that during the suns active phase it release only 1 more energy than when its in its quiet phase. An easy way to tell when the sun is going through an active or quiet phase is to look at the amount of sunspots evident on the suns surface. A large increase in sunspots indicates that the sun is undergoing its active phase while relatively few sunspots is indicative of a quiet phase.
One affect this has on us is that even though during its active phase the sun releases only 1 more energy it is sufficient to cause a drastic change in the atmosphere of our planet. A 1 increase in the amount of energy reaching us from the sun actually causes a warming of the ozone in the upper atmosphere. All this extra energy actually causes the production of more ozone which traps more heat and create even more ozone in a rather cyclical cycle. The result is stronger winds which reduces the amount of cloud cover over the Pacific Ocean which would then cause it to absorb more energy from the sun. The result would be a warming from the sky and from the sea thus increasing the overall temperature of the planet.
Chromosphere
After the photosphere the next zone is the Chromosphere. Its main characteristic is a rise in temperature, which reaches just about 10,000 Kelvin in some places and 20,000 Kelvin in others.The Chromosphere was first detected during total eclipses of the sun. The spectrum of the chromosphere is visible after the moon covers the photosphere, but before it covers the chromosphere. This time frame lasts only a few seconds. The emission lines in the spectrum seem to flash suddenly into visibility, so the spectrum is known as the flash spectrum. The chromosphere is apparently made up entirely of spike-shaped structures called spicules (SPIHK yoolz). A normal spicule is about 600 miles (1,000 kilometers) across and up to 6,000 miles (10,000 kilometers) high. The density of the chromosphere is about 10 billion to 100 billion particles per cubic centimeter.
Transition region
Between the two zones of the chromospheres which ranges to about 20,000 Kelvin and the Corona which is hotter due to its temperature being 500,000 Kelvin is a region of intermediate temperatures which is known as the chromosphere-corona transition region, in simpler terms - the transition region. The transition region receives a lot of its energy from the overlying corona not only that the region emits most of its light in the ultraviolet spectrum. The thickness of the region varies from a few hundred to a few thousand miles or kilometers. In some places, relatively cool spicules extend from the chromosphere high into the solar atmosphere. It has been theorized that there maybe nearby areas where coronal structures reach down close to the photosphere.
Corona
Corona is the hottest part of the suns atmosphere wherein the temperature exceeds that of 500,000 K. The corona consists of structures such as loops and streams of ionized gas. The structures connect vertically to the solar surface, and magnetic fields that come from inside the sun mold them. The temperature of any given structure created by there methods varies along each field line. Closer to the surface, the temperature is typical of the temperatures found in the photosphere. At higher temperature levels, it has chromospheric values, then values of the transition region and then finally coronal values.
The temperature of the part of the corona nearest to the solar surface is about 1 million to 6 million Kelvin, and the density is about 100 million to 1 billion particles per cubic centimeter. The temperature reaches tens of millions of Kelvins when a flare occurs.
Sunspots
Sunspots are dark, often roughly circular features on the solar surface. They form where denser bundles of magnetic field lines from the solar interior break through the surface.
The Sun in our solar system has been burning brightly for the past 5 billion years however its rate of burning through its nuclear fuel has not been a steady one. The Sun actually goes through two phases a quiet phase and an active phase the only difference between the two is that during the suns active phase it release only 1 more energy than when its in its quiet phase. An easy way to tell when the sun is going through an active or quiet phase is to look at the amount of sunspots evident on the suns surface. A large increase in sunspots indicates that the sun is undergoing its active phase while relatively few sunspots is indicative of a quiet phase.
One affect this has on us is that even though during its active phase the sun releases only 1 more energy it is sufficient to cause a drastic change in the atmosphere of our planet. A 1 increase in the amount of energy reaching us from the sun actually causes a warming of the ozone in the upper atmosphere. All this extra energy actually causes the production of more ozone which traps more heat and create even more ozone in a rather cyclical cycle. The result is stronger winds which reduces the amount of cloud cover over the Pacific Ocean which would then cause it to absorb more energy from the sun. The result would be a warming from the sky and from the sea thus increasing the overall temperature of the planet.
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