Week 9 - The Sun Flashcards
(13 cards)
Who first used a telescope on the sun?
Galileo (he eventually went blind from it)
Why don’t eclipses occur every month?
The earth and the moon orbit on different planes
How dense is the sun?
The sun is 40% denser than water.
What is the radius of the sun in comparison to earth?
110 times greater.
What is the mass of the sun compared to earth?
330,000 times greater.
What is the temperature of the core of the sun?
15.7 million Kelvin.
How long does light take to move from the surface of the sun to earth?
8 minutes, 20 seconds
What element is the sun mostly made of?
Hydrogen
How often does the magnetic field of the sun flip?
Every decade or 11 years.
What is solar wind?
A stream of charges particles ejected from the upper atmosphere of the sun.
The sun spins on its axis roughly once every…
Month
Why so sunspots appear darker?
They are cooler than the surrounding material.
The temperature of the surface of the sun is roughly…
5800k
