Exam 8: The Sun

How many nuclear reactions occur in a proton-proton chain?

Almost all the light we receive from the Sun escapes from underneath its photosphere.

What occurs on the surface of the Sun during a solar cycle minimum?

Which two elements are most abundant within the Sun?

When mapping the interior of the Sun, astronomers must measure _____ as the photosphere moves up and down.

The chromosphere is roughly _______________ times fainter than the photosphere.

Figure 8-2b What process on the Sun's photosphere does this figure represent?

Gas flows away from the Sun in the _______________, which can be considered an extension of the corona.

What is the average distance between the Sun and Earth?

What is the safest way to view the Sun and its sunspots?

Which equation represents the overall nuclear fusion process of the Sun?

Astronomers often record solar images in the ____ part of the electromagnetic spectrum because the gaseous layers high in the Sun's atmosphere are very hot and emit most of their light at short wavelengths.

What causes granulation on the photosphere?

Sunspots are parts of active solar regions dominated by magnetic fields that encompass all layers of the Sun's atmosphere.

The _______________ of the solar disk is dimmer than the center, which is caused by the absorption of light in the photosphere.

The corona can reach temperatures of up to ____.

Sunspot numbers follow a seven-year cycle.

The pink color of the chromosphere is produced by the combined light of three emission lines of hydrogen: ____.

The visible surface of the Sun is composed of solid matter.

The _______________ predicts that pairs of sunspots should occur where magnetic tubes burst through the Sun's surface.