THE SUN

The purpose of this paper is to describe the origin, function, and dynamics of the sun, including sunspots and the solar cycle.

In order to describe the birth of the sun it is necessary to also discuss the origin of the universe and the formation of the solar system. For even though these happenings occurred billions of years apart, each one led to the formation of the other and they are all related. What makes this even more complicated is that throughout the history of man, there have been many theories concerning these astronomical occurrences, and there are still differing opinions among scientists. The most widely accepted and well-known opinions will be presented here.

It is now an almost certainty that the Big bang theory actually occurred and began the universe. To the question of why it occurred we have no answer. What we now believe is that all of the matter in the universe was concentrated into a very high- density; this high-density mass was, at the time, the complete universe. In a huge explosion, the mass expanded outward and is still continuing on that path.

The radiation from this explosion became gamma rays to X-rays and ultraviolet light, went through the colors of the spectrum of light, and into the infrared and radio regions. The early universe was made up of radiation, hydrogen and helium. Out of this, small pockets of gas -- nonuniformition -- sprang up. Large masses began to spin and shine, and the galaxies were formed (Sagan 246).

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s one counterclockwise rotation every 25 days and one hour (Alter 2). The sun is made up primarily of hydrogen and helium. The surface consists of a very thin layer of gases, which is one-hundredth the density of earth's air. There are also gases of a ten-billionth density of water one hundred miles above the photosphere in the sun's atmosphere. As we proceed into the sun, the gases reach a density of about 160 times the density of water. The temperature also increases, being about 5,480 degrees C on the photosphere to over 15 million degrees C in the core (Alter 1). The reversing layer of the sun consists of the atmosphere 300 miles above the photosphere. Above this reversing layer are found the chromosphere and corona. Galileo discovered sunspots, and used them to determine the period of rotation of the sun. Sunspots are not absolutely dark, but only appear to be so in relation to the brightness of the rest of the sun. Spots are found around the equator and are rarely seen at latitudes greater than 30 degrees (Hoyle 123). The dark interior of a sunspot is called the umbra, and the grey surroundings, the penumbra. The average temperature of a sunspot is 4,000 degrees, or 2,000 degrees cooler than the photosphere (Mitt

Category: Science - T