Who is not familiar with the bright star in the sky called the 'Sun'. Ever since we were little we knew that the Sun rose in the morning and set at night, even if we did not understand that it's actually the Earth's that rotating and revolving around the Sun.
The Sun is the central star of the Solar system and has a diameter of approximately 1,392,000 kilometers. This massive star itself forms about 99.86% of the entire Solar System's mass, leaving less than 1% of the solar system to be made up of the planets, asteroids, comets, meteoroids, etc. Thus, from this one can get an idea about the vastness of this star. Besides being humongous, there's another distinguishing feature of the Sun that we all are yet again aware of. It's about how hot the Sun is! Direct rays from the Sun in summers is itself unbearable, then imagine how hot the temperature of the Sun's surface is!
What is the Temperature of the Sun?
Determination of the temperature of the Sun has been a daunting and herculean task for solar astronomers. Although measuring the Sun's temperature is quite simple, getting the right reading about a factor called atmospheric absorption was the most difficult part.
In 1837, Sir John Herschel at the Cape of Good Hope, and Claude-Servais-Mathias Pouillet in France observed that the temperature of water, 1.8 cm deep would rise by 1°C/minute if the vertical rays of the Sun were to be completely absorbed. Thus, emerged the problem of atmospheric absorption. However, this problem was solved in 1881, when astronomers compiled unknown information for solar radiation of various wavelengths from the already known information, so as to determine the intensity of each one in the absence of intervening air. This helped measure the temperature of the Sun. The temperature of the Sun is not uniform all over. It's different at different layers and regions of the Sun, thus, let us have a look at the different temperatures.
Temperature of the Sun's Surface
The surface of the Sun is called the photosphere, which is 340 miles thick and gives off Sun's energy in the form of light and heat. One can view some dark spots, also known as Sunspots that happen to be the only activity visible to us by the naked eye. In fact, most of the sunlight we see is from this photosphere only. Coming back to the main point, the temperature of the Sun's surface is 5,778 K (5,505 °C). This extreme temperature is what gives the sunlight its glorious yellow color. Had the temperature been even slightly lower, the Sun would appear reddish. Moreover, had the temperature been slightly higher, sunlight would appear bluish. Talk about the optimum temperature! Read more on what are sunspots.
Temperature of the Sun's Core
The temperature of the Sun in kelvins at the core region of the Sun is 13,600,000 kelvin. This high temperature is the right temperature for atoms of hydrogen to fuse together to form Helium by the process called nuclear fusion. Read more on nuclear fusion in the Sun.
Temperature of the Sun's Atmosphere
The Sun is a fantastic star and continues to leave us surprised. Contrary to common belief, the Sun's atmosphere is hotter than its surface. At about 2000 km from the Sun's surface, the temperature rises to about 100,000 kelvin. In fact, temperatures even rise to about 1 million kelvin in various zones of this atmosphere. The temperature of the Sun's corona (outermost layer of the Sun's atmosphere) is about a few million kelvin.
The Sun is the central star of the Solar system and has a diameter of approximately 1,392,000 kilometers. This massive star itself forms about 99.86% of the entire Solar System's mass, leaving less than 1% of the solar system to be made up of the planets, asteroids, comets, meteoroids, etc. Thus, from this one can get an idea about the vastness of this star. Besides being humongous, there's another distinguishing feature of the Sun that we all are yet again aware of. It's about how hot the Sun is! Direct rays from the Sun in summers is itself unbearable, then imagine how hot the temperature of the Sun's surface is!
What is the Temperature of the Sun?
Determination of the temperature of the Sun has been a daunting and herculean task for solar astronomers. Although measuring the Sun's temperature is quite simple, getting the right reading about a factor called atmospheric absorption was the most difficult part.
In 1837, Sir John Herschel at the Cape of Good Hope, and Claude-Servais-Mathias Pouillet in France observed that the temperature of water, 1.8 cm deep would rise by 1°C/minute if the vertical rays of the Sun were to be completely absorbed. Thus, emerged the problem of atmospheric absorption. However, this problem was solved in 1881, when astronomers compiled unknown information for solar radiation of various wavelengths from the already known information, so as to determine the intensity of each one in the absence of intervening air. This helped measure the temperature of the Sun. The temperature of the Sun is not uniform all over. It's different at different layers and regions of the Sun, thus, let us have a look at the different temperatures.
Temperature of the Sun's Surface
The surface of the Sun is called the photosphere, which is 340 miles thick and gives off Sun's energy in the form of light and heat. One can view some dark spots, also known as Sunspots that happen to be the only activity visible to us by the naked eye. In fact, most of the sunlight we see is from this photosphere only. Coming back to the main point, the temperature of the Sun's surface is 5,778 K (5,505 °C). This extreme temperature is what gives the sunlight its glorious yellow color. Had the temperature been even slightly lower, the Sun would appear reddish. Moreover, had the temperature been slightly higher, sunlight would appear bluish. Talk about the optimum temperature! Read more on what are sunspots.
Temperature of the Sun's Core
The temperature of the Sun in kelvins at the core region of the Sun is 13,600,000 kelvin. This high temperature is the right temperature for atoms of hydrogen to fuse together to form Helium by the process called nuclear fusion. Read more on nuclear fusion in the Sun.
Temperature of the Sun's Atmosphere
The Sun is a fantastic star and continues to leave us surprised. Contrary to common belief, the Sun's atmosphere is hotter than its surface. At about 2000 km from the Sun's surface, the temperature rises to about 100,000 kelvin. In fact, temperatures even rise to about 1 million kelvin in various zones of this atmosphere. The temperature of the Sun's corona (outermost layer of the Sun's atmosphere) is about a few million kelvin.
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