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How Hot is the Core of the Sun?

Answer – The core of the sun is the hottest part, reaching temperatures of about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (15 million degrees Celsius).

Explanation:

The core’s high temperature is primarily due to the intense nuclear fusion reactions. The sun is mostly made up of hydrogen gas (approximately 70%–90%). At the core, this gas is held together by a lot of gravity, resulting in high pressure. This high pressure makes hydrogen atoms collide to create a new element called helium. As a result of this nuclear fusion, an immense amount of energy in the form of light, radiation, and heat is released.

Image of the Sun by the "Atmospheric Imaging Assembly" of NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory — The Sun is the largest object in the solar system.

Popular Questions

Our sun has a peak emission wavelength of about 500 nm and a radius of about 700,000 km. Your dark-adapted eye has a pupil diameter of about 7 mm and can detect light intensity down to about 1.5 x 10^-11 W/m². Assume the emissivity of the sun is equal to 1. First, given these numbers, what is the surface temperature of the sun in Kelvin to 3 significant digits?

You are in an elliptical orbit around the sun and at the aphelion point, you fire your rocket engines in such a way as to slow the spacecraft down. As a result: 1. The perihelion will move farther from the sun while the aphelion will remain unchanged; 2. The perihelion will move closer to the sun while the aphelion will remain unchanged; 3. The aphelion will move closer to the sun while the perihelion will remain unchanged; 4. The aphelion will move farther from the sun while the perihelion will remain unchanged.

Our understanding of the elliptical motion of planets about the sun spanned several years and included contributions from many scientists. Which scientist is credited with the collection of the data necessary to support the planet’s elliptical motion?

Earth tugs the sun around as it orbits, but it affects the radial velocity of the sun by only 0.09 m/s. How large a shift in wavelength does this cause in the sun’s spectrum at 575 nm?

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Astrophysics Physics Stars Sun

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