Sun

Getting Started

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Rubric: [[file:Space Exploration Adventure Rubric.doc]], [[file:Space Exploration Adventure Rubric.pdf]]

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Visuals Make sure to include the location of your images; add a caption with this information **Image above:** STEREO's Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope captured these images of the sun March 17-27, 2007. STEREO can see the sun in several different wavelengths. Each wavelength allows scientists to see different features on the sun. **Credit:** NASA || This artist concept shows the layers of the sun.
 * The Sun In Different Wavelengths Movie

Image credit: NASA ||  || Solar flares and other space weather phenomena can have adverse affects on satellites orbiting Earth, power grids on the ground and cell phone communications. Image Credit: NASA ||
 * [[image:http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/571343main_ActiveSun-xltn.jpg width="140" height="112" align="bottom" caption="A solar flare and coronal mass ejection erupt from the sun's surfacehttp://www.nasa.gov/images/content/571343main_ActiveSun-xltn.jpg"]]

New Solar Cycle Sunspot
After many weeks of a blank sun with no sunspots and very few sunspots this entire year, a small new sunspot emerged Sept. 23, 2008. This new spot has both the magnetic orientation and the high-latitude position of a sunspot belonging to the new solar cycle, Cycle 24.Will this be the harbinger of more solar changes to come and mark the beginnings of a rise in solar activity in the near future? Only time will tell. If the pattern from the record of the past 400 years holds, we can expect that solar activity will begin to show an increase in the next few months.
 * Image Credit:** Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT), NASA/ESA ||  ||
 * [[image:http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/199928main_rs_image_feature_785_946x710.jpg width="342" height="283" align="bottom" caption="Our sun's chromosphere on Jan. 12, 2007http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/199928main_rs_image_feature_785_946x710.jpg"]]

From the Sun
Hinode, a collaborative mission of the space agencies of Japan, the United States, United Kingdom and Europe, captured these very dynamic pictures of our sun's chromosphere on Jan. 12, 2007. Taken by Hinode's Solar Optical Telescope, this image of the sun reveals the filamentary nature of the plasma connecting regions of different magnetic polarity. The chromosphere is a thin layer of solar atmosphere sandwiched between the visible surface, photosphere and corona. //Image credit: JAXA/NASA// ||  ||   ||   ||   ||

**Works Cited** **Sources** : Include the source information for all of the magazine articles, reference sources (encyclopedias) and web site pages that were used to complete your project. The source information for encyclopedias may be found at the end or beginning of each entry in iCONN. When using periodicals, the publication information will be at the beginning or end of the article. This needs to be formatted for MLA standards. If it is not labeled 'Source Citation' it can be formatted appropriately by using EasyBib.com. You should use EasyBib for the web sites. The final Works Cited should be listed in alphabetical order by the first word of the source citation.


 * Sample:**

"Milky Way." //Kids InfoBits Presents: Astronomy//. Gale, 2008. Reproduced in Kids InfoBits. Detroit: Gale, 2012. "The Milky Way." //WMAP's Universe//. NASA, 28 June 2010. Web. 06 Mar. 2012. . Vergano, Dan. "Galaxy Bracketed by Big Bubbles." //USA Today// 10 Nov. 2010: 05A. Web. 6 Mar. 2012.

"Sun." //The Gale Encyclopedia of Science//. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. 4th ed. Detroit: Gale, 2008. //Gale Science In Context//. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/scic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=true&prodId=SCIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CCV2644032172&mode=view&userGroupName=s0002&jsid=f175ceb7cb39749bd226e70f0e68d22b "Sun." //Earth Sciences for Students//. Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2011. //Gale Science In Context//. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/scic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=true&prodId=SCIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CCV2640550217&mode=view&userGroupName=s0002&jsid=93a130c8186d0e4d3f1d2503df12a332 "Sun." //U*X*L Encyclopedia of Science//. U*X*L, 2007. //Gale Science In Context//. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/scic/ReferenceDetailsPage/ReferenceDetailsWindow?displayGroupName=Reference&disableHighlighting=true&prodId=SCIC&action=e&windowstate=normal&catId=&documentId=GALE%7CCV2644300916&mode=view&userGroupName=s0002&jsid=f75a91198d369e22d43de83cff69aad0 [] []
 * Your Source List:**
 * Source Citation:** "Sun." //Kids InfoBits Presents: Astronomy//. Gale, 2008. Reproduced in Kids InfoBits. Detroit: Gale, 2012. []

**Topic: Research Focus**
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**Notes** ==== Include notes, statistics and facts that you will use to write your final paper. You may want to label sections of your notes to help you be more organized as you write. As you take notes from a source, you should list the source citation in the Works Cited section above. ====

The sun is a 4.6-billion-year-old star at the center of the solar system. Eight planets as well as asteroids, comets, space rocks, ice, and dwarf planets orbit around it. There are many other stars in the universe but the sun appears bigger and brighter than any of these. This is because it is much closer to Earth than any other star.

Facts About the Sun
The sun is 332,900 times more massive than Earth. About 1.3 million Earths could fit inside it. It contains more than 99 percent of the entire mass in the solar system. The sun is a burning ball of hydrogen and helium. The sun is a yellow dwarf star. A dwarf star is a middle-aged star. Although it uses 4 million tons of fuel per second, it has enough to burn for five or six billion more years. After that, it will become a red giant star. This is an older star that is running out of fuel. The sun spins on its axis, but because it is made of gas, all of it does not turn at the same speed. Its rotation is about 25 days at the equator and 35 days at the poles. But because of Earth's movement, the rotation appears to be about 28 days at the equator.

Structure of the Sun
At the sun's core the temperature is about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (15 million degrees Celsius). This is where the sun's energy is produced. This energy bounces around the radiative zone. It takes about 170,000 years to get to the next layer up, which is the convective zone. Then gases move the energy up in large bubbles of hot plasma. The sun's surface, or photosphere, is 300 miles (483 kilometers) deep. The temperature here is 9,940 degrees Fahrenheit (5,504 degrees Celsius). From here, sunlight takes about eight minutes to reach Earth. The two outermost regions of the sun are usually only seen during solar eclipses. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon is directly between the sun and the earth. Then the chromosphere looks like a red rim around the sun. The corona is a white halo.

Surface Activity on the Sun
Magnetic storms on the sun's surface are called sunspots. These areas are cooler, so they look darker. The sun also sends out explosions of energy called solar flares. These flares shoot streams of protons and electrons out into space. Sometimes they disrupt communications systems on Earth. When gas expands in the corona, it throws out solar winds. Solar prominences erupt from the sun's surface in columns of gas. They shoot into space or loop back toward the sun. The level of solar activity changes within an 11-year period called the solar cycle. In 2007 NASA sent two spacecrafts to observe the sun. They provide 3-D pictures of the sun. They also observe magnetic storms on the sun's surface. They can provide advance warning of solar storms that will affect Earth. The sun is about 93 million miles (150 million kilometers) from Earth, but it is very important to life on Earth. Plants depend on sunlight to grow. People and animals need it to stay alive. The sun also influences the weather and the climate. Without the sun's light and warmth, Earth would be a barren planet; no life could survive on it.

The Sun (or, sun) is the star at the center of the Earth's solar system. As such, the Earth and seven other planets, several minor planets, and an assortment of meteorites, asteroids and other objects orbit around the Sun. It has a diameter of about 420,000 mi (700,000 km) and a surface temperature of about 9,981°F (5,527°C). Its visible surface is actually a thin gas, as is the rest of its atmosphere and interior. Astronomers estimate that the Sun is about 4.6 billion years old, and will continue to shine for another 7 billion years.

The sun is the nearest star to Earth and the dominant object in the solar system. It produces nearly all of the energy that reaches Earth and the other planets, and it contains almost 99.9 percent of all the matter in the solar system. After many years of study, scientists have developed explanations of how the sun formed, how it generates radiation, and how solar activity affects Earth.

The Sun, the star at the center of our solar system, is an average-sized, middle-aged star. It is a gas ball made mostly of hydrogen and helium, with a small amount of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and trace amounts of heavy metals. The Sun is roughly 865,000 miles (1,392,000 kilometers) in diameter, about 109 times the diameter of Earth. The Sun, so large that over 1.3 million Earths could fit inside of it, accounts for about 99.8 percent of the mass of the solar system.

Because the Sun is a gas ball, the rate of its rotation about its axis varies--it spins faster around its equator than around its poles. At its equator, it completes one rotation in about 25 Earth days. At its poles, one rotation takes place about every 35 Earth days. The Sun's surface gravity is almost 28 times that of Earth. It's gravitational attraction holds all the planets, comets, and other solar system bodies in their orbits.

The atmosphere of the Sun consists of three layers: the photosphere, the chromosphere, and the corona. Since these layers are composed of gases, no sharp boundaries mark the beginning of one layer and the end of another.

The Sun is by far the largest object in the solar system. It contains more than 99.8% of the total [|mass] of the Solar System Read more about [|The Sun l Sun Facts and images.] by [|nineplanets.org]

Of all of the astronomical objects, the Sun is the most important to human beings.