The+Sun



The Sun, the controlling body of the Earth's solar system, is a star often described as average. Yet, the Sun's mass and luminosity are greater than that of 80% of the stars in the Earth's galaxy. On the other hand, most of the stars that can be easily seen on any clear night are bigger and brighter than the Sun. It is the Sun's proximity to the Earth that makes it appear tremendously large and bright. The Sun is 400,000 times as bright as the full moon and gives the Earth 6 million times as much light as do all the other stars put together. A series of thermonuclear reactions involving the atoms of the elements of which it is composed produces the heat and light that make life possible on Earth. The Sun has a diameter of 864,000 mi and, on average, is 92,900,000 mi from the Earth. It is 1.41 times as dense as water. The light of the Sun reaches the Earth in 499.012 seconds, or in slightly more than 8 minutes. The average solar surface temperature has been measured at a value of 5,800 K, or about 10,000o F. The interior temperature of the Sun is theorized to be about 27,000,000o F. When Sunlight is analyzed with a spectroscope, it is found to consist of a continuous spectrum composed of all the colors of the rainbow in order, crossed by many dark lines. The "absorption lines" are produced by gaseous materials in the atmosphere of the Sun. More than 60 of the natural terrestrial elements have been identified in the Sun, all in gaseous form because of the Sun's intense heat.

__**What will be the effect of the heat flares coming out of the sun in 2011 and 2012?**__


 * Leen: It is believed that by 2012, the solar flares will affect our technology and communication which will be catastrophic due to having an advanced world full of technology that could literally ruin millions of lives when these heat flares affect technology. Statistics predict that losing power grids will affect 130 million people in the states alone. **

Rayan Sibai: Solar flares can affect communications, Short wave radio, GPS Signaling, Satellites, the health of astronauts, and power grids. These massive explosions of energy and magnetic force can severely affect society, both economically and deleteriously. Solar flares can also cause localized blackouts for days on end. In addition, a massive solar flare can damage earth’s magnetic field.

__**What is the size of the sun, compared to the milkyway galaxy?**__


 * Leen: Due to having a 864,000 mi as the diameter of the Sun and approximately **** 100,000 light-years as the diameter of the Milky Way, the Sun is not nearly as close to being even 1/8th of the Milky Way's size. **

Rayan Sibai: The milky was has a diameter of 100,000 light years and a thickness of a 1,000 light years, the sun has a diameter of 864938 miles or 1391980 km. If we were to imagine that our solar system was a quarter and the sun a spec of dust on that quarter, then the nearest solar system to our own would be another quarter 2 football fields away. 864938 miles (1391980 km)

__**What type of nuclear reactions take place on the sun?**__

Leen: Nuclear Fission takes place where hydrogen turns into helium. Rayan Sibai: In the sun, thermonuclear fusion occurs combining hydrogen nuclei to form helium nuclei and giving off enormous amounts of energy