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Photosphere definition4/19/2023 When the Moon just eclipses the bright photosphere, it is often possible to see part of a narrow, pink-coloured ring that encircles the Sun. A total eclipse happens when the Moon passes in front of the Sun and blocks out the bright light from the photosphere. However, the natural phenomenon known as a total eclipse of the Sun provides an opportunity to gain further insight into the nature of the Sun (see Figure 1 below). Rather, it is a thin layer of hot gaseous material, about 500 kilometres deep, with an average temperature of about 5500 ☌ (degrees Celsius).ĭetailed studies of the body of the Sun usually require special equipment. Its diameter is about 1.4 million kilometres, making the Sun's volume roughly one million times that of the Earth. The part of the Sun that you normally see is called the photosphere (meaning 'sphere of light') this is best thought of as the 'surface' of the Sun, although it is very different from the surface of a planet such as Earth. The Sun is seen as a blindingly bright, yellow object in the sky. This OpenLearn course provides a sample of level 1 study in Science Close up, you would see the shape of the bulb but, from far away, it would be just a point of light. Imagine looking at a glowing light bulb first from very close up and then from a much greater distance. The stars that are visible at night are much further away: the nearest is about 40 million million kilometres from Earth, and most are much more distant than that. In astronomical terms, the Sun is relatively close, being only about 150 million kilometres (93 million miles) from Earth. How can they possibly be the same sort of object? The key to the answer lies in their distances. Stars, on the other hand, are mere silvery pinpoints of light that are visible only against the darkness of the night sky and with no discernible heating effect on Earth. After all, the Sun is a brightly glowing, yellow object - so bright that it is dangerous to look at it directly, and so hot that we can feel its radiation warming the whole Earth. Learning that the Sun is a star can be a little surprising. By studying the Sun, they can gain an insight into the workings of the other millions of stars that are visible in the night sky. For astronomers, the Sun is fascinating because it is our nearest star.
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