The Suns EnergyThe sun is a large star that’s in the centre of our solar

system. The sun is located 149,600,000 km from planet earth. Its roughly 1,300,000 km in diameter. The sun is mostly made up of hydrogen and helium. Its mass is

1.9891 multiplied by 10 to the power of 30.The sun produces its energy by the nuclear fusion of

hydrogen into helium. Since there is a massive amount of hydrogen in the core these atoms stick together and fuse into helium atoms. This energy is then given off from the core and moves through the solar system. Some of the events that distribute the energy of the sun and other

stars are nuclear fission, solar flares and prominences, sun spots and solar wind.

Nuclear Fission

• Nuclear fission is a process in which the nucleus of an atom splits. This takes place on the sun when the hydrogen formed helium atoms split. Because the sun is so big and has so much hydrogen this happens hundreds of millions of times per second releasing a lot of energy. This helps give the sun its shine.

Solar flares

• Solar flares are extremely violent eruptions of gas from the suns surface that can last for a few hours and heat gases to 11 000 000 c

• Most of these occur around sunspots and take hours or even days to build up. Most of them only take minutes to release there energy.

• Solar flares produce high energy and radiation that are dangerous to living organisms

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nmDZhQAIeXM

Prominences • Prominences are very similar to solar flares they are

large loops of super gas that occur on the sun• They are made of plasma• Prominences are visible as part of the corona during a

total solar eclipse.• They occur above the suns surface where gases are

suspended in a loop.• http://www.sen.com/tv/sdo-solar-prominence-16-apr-

2012.html

Corona: The extended outer atmosphere of the Sun

Sun Spots • A sun spot is an area on the sun that is

cooler and darker then its surrounding• Sun spots may last a few days or even

several weeks.• Sun spots are formed continuously as the

suns magnetic field actively move through the sun

• The most sun spots ever seen on the sun is around 200 and sometimes none can be seen

Sun spot

Solar wind

• Solar wind is a stream of electrically charged particles produced by the suns corona

• Sometimes the hot gases in the corona get ejected in a sudden burst. Gas is spewed out in every direction this creates solar wind. Exposure to solar wind could be fatal for anything on earth. Fortunately earths magnetic field protects this. Solar wind creates incredible light shows in the sky(auroras)

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaSFAbATPvk