By- Dana Washington

Pd- 10

Astronomers use a spectroscope and are able to determine the lines in the sun spectra. Using that data the scientists are able to tell the sun’s temperature and internal pressures.

A solar telescope is used to see the sun in a safer way. It projects a large image of the sun into a dark room and then the solar physicists can see the sun and observe the changes.

History- The sun began as a swirling cloud of hot gas and dust, then as it swirled around the particles formed into a large clump. Then as time pasted it formed into a disk…

…and eventually became more full and became a gigantic hydrogen bomb. That gigantic hydrogen bomb was the birth of our sun. It is at least five billion years old and is still in its stable stage.

Future- The sun is predicted to remain stable for about another five billion years, then it will swell up and swallow Mercury and Venus and it might even reach Earth. Then the Earths oceans will be boiled dry. The sun will the become small like a white dawrf star, which is smaller than Earth. Then that star will cool and that would be the end of the sun.

Since the sun is mostly hydrogen, the source of its energy is formed by four hydrogen nuclei joining to form a helium nucleus and it has an amount of mass…

…Then the mass appears to disappear in the fusion, but it really doesn’t it really changes into energy and then is radiated into space and then to Earth.

Solar wind is a stream of electrically charged particles that come from the corona. The particles go at a speed of about 400 kilometers per second. They also go threw space in all different directions.

♥ The term “magnetic storm” means a world-wide magnetic disturbance.

♥ The effect on the magnetosphere from magnetic storms is the injection of energetic ions and electrons. Which then causes the ring to grow.

Auroras occur when there is an explosion in the sun and the force comes toward Earth. The force hits the magnetic field and bounces back. Which then breaks little pieces of the magnetic field. Those pieces then fall on Earths atmosphere. Once they hit, the air glows causing auroras.

Auroras seen in the Northern part of the world are called Northern lights, and the auroras in the south are called southern lights.

* Spangenburg, Ray, and Kit Moser. A Look At the Sun. New York: Franklin Watts, 1998. 1-112.

* Canright, Shelley, ed. "Auroras." http://www.nasa.gov/audience/forkids/home/aurora.html. 26

Apr. 2006. NASA. 25 May 2006 <www.yahoo.com>. • Stern, David P. "Magnetic Storms." http://www.phy6.org/Education/wmagstrm.html. 13 Mar. 2006. 25 May 2006 <www.yahoo.com>.

• Darling, David J. The Sun in Our Neighborhood.

Minneapolis, Minnesota: Dillon P Inc., 1984. 6-63. • Spaulding, Nancy E., and Samuel N. Namowitz. Earth Science. Evanston, Illinois: McDougal Littell, 1994. 1-682.

http://janus.astro.umd.edu/astro/stars/SunsLife.html