Exam 10: The Sun: Our Parent Star

The sunspot cycle is sometimes described as lasting 11 years, but others prefer to consider it as 22 years; explain the rationale.

Relate sunspots and prominences.

What two energy transport mechanisms, in order from outside the core to the surface, are found in the Sun?

The final step in transporting energy to the surface of the Sun is via convection.

Most of the neutrinos given off by the Sun are changing form in the eight minutes before they reach us.

Why is the bright yellow disk of the Sun, the photosphere, cooler than the areas both above and below it?

Prominences are extensions of the solar magnetic fields above sunspots.

Given that a large sunspot, about 100× smaller than the Sun, is about the same size as our planet, how many Earths could fit inside the Sun's vast volume?

A maximum in solar activity should next occur about

What is happening to the mass of the Sun over time? Explain.

A solar flare creates a radio disturbance on Earth a few minutes after going off, then again several days later. Explain.

In Europe, what weather phenomenon coincided with the Maunder Minimum?

Fusion depends upon the nuclear force getting the protons to stick together.

The high temperature of the corona is directly responsible for

A typical solar flare lasts only a few days.

The two spacecraft constantly observing the Sun are _ _ and .

The solar corona is best studied using X- ray telescopes.

What is the best time to see the corona? Why is it so faint, if it is so hot?

The proton storms in the solar wind travel at almost the speed of light.

Describe evidence for convection in the photosphere.