The Sun’s Interior
Remember that the sun DOES NOT
have a solid surface.
The sun is made ENTIRELY of gas
However, the sun has an INTERIOR
and an ATMOSPHERE
3 Parts of the Sun’s Interior
1) The CORE
2) The RADIATIVE ZONE
3) The CONVECTIVE ZONE
The Layers of the Sun’s
INTERIOR
The Core
The Core: The central region of the sun
that produces an enormous amount of
energy.
How does the Core get
its energy?
This energy in the core is produced by
NUCLEAR FUSION.
What is NUCLEAR FUSION?
NUCLEAR FUSION
NUCLEAR FUSION: the creation of the sun’s
energy inside the Sun’s core. This only
occurs under conditions of extremely high
temperature and pressure.
occurs when hydrogen joins together to
form helium
The Radiative Zone
The Radiative Zone:
the region of very
tightly packed gas
where energy
moves out from
the core.
Radiation Zone
Because the
radiation zone
is so dense,
energy can
take more than
100,000 years
to move
through it.
The Convective Zone
The Convective Zone: the outermost layer
of the sun’s interior.
Hot gases rise from the bottom of the
convection zone and gradually cool as
they approach the top.
Cooler gases sink, forming loops of gas
that move energy toward the sun’s
surface.
The Convective Zone
The Convective Zone
Think about your own
house.
Is the temperature different in your
attic than your basement?
Warmest Air =
in your attic
Cooler Air = in
your basement
Remember that cold air is denser,
or heavier, and warm air is lighter.
Because of this, cooler air sinks,
and warm air rises.
3 Layers of the Sun’s
Interior
Easy to remember list
Core = at the center and the HOTTEST
part of the sun
Radiative Zone = the hardest for
energy to pass through –can take years
because it is so dense
Convective Zone = the highest part of
the Sun’s interior, where cool air sinks and warm
air rises in loops
Now that we know all of the
layers INSIDE the sun, what
about the outer layers?
Does the Sun have an
atmosphere?
YES!
There are 3 parts of the Sun’s
Atmosphere:
1) The Photosphere:
2) The Chromosphere:
3) The Corona:
The Photosphere
The Greek word “Photo”
means what?
The Photosphere
“Photo” means “Light”
Photosphere: the inner layer of the sun’s
atmosphere that gives off visible light.
The gases of the photosphere are thick
enough to be visible.
When you look at an image of the sun, you are
looking at the photosphere.
Photosphere: considered to be the sun’s
surface layer
The Photosphere
The Chromosphere
What does the Greek word
“Chroma” mean?
The Chromosphere
“Chroma” means “Color”
Chromosphere: the middle layer of the
sun’s atmosphere
Has a reddish glow
During a solar eclipse, the moon blocks
light from the photosphere, so this is
the one time that you can see the
chromosphere, which gives off a
reddish glow
Chromosphere
The Corona
Corona: the outer
layer of the Sun’s
atmosphere which
looks like a white
halo around the
sun
The Corona
“Corona” in Latin
means CROWN
The Corona is by far
the largest part of
the Sun’s
atmosphere, as it
extends into space
for millions of
kilometers
The Corona
The Sun’s Layers
Sun’s Layers