CORONA – The Sun’s outermost atmosphere, consisting of a hot, ionized gas extending millions of kilometers into space.
Month: July 2025
CHROMOSPHERE – The thin layer of the Sun’s atmosphere above the photosphere, visible during a solar eclipse as a reddish glow.
PHOTOSPHERE – The visible surface of the Sun, emitting light and heat, located above the convective zone.
CONVECTIVE ZONE – The outer layer of the Sun’s interior, where energy is transferred by convection, with hot plasma rising and cooler plasma sinking.
RADIATIVE ZONE – The layer of the Sun where energy is transported outward through radiation, from the core to the outer layers.
CORE – The innermost region of the Sun where nuclear fusion occurs, producing the Sun’s energy.
THE SUN: STRUCTURE AND COMPOSITION
PLANETESIMAL DISKS – A collection of small objects that eventually merged to form the planets in the early solar system.
SOLAR WIND – The flow of charged particles (mainly protons and electrons) emitted by the Sun, which interacts with the planets and solar system formation processes.
SOLAR SYSTEM BARYCENTER – The center of mass of the solar system, which is affected by the masses of the Sun and the planets.