Layers of the Sun

http://www.astronomyknowhow.com/sun.htm

The Core

The core of the sun has a temperatures of 15 million K and a density of 160,000 Kg/m3, and it's the place where the nuclear fusion that generates massive amounts of energy takes place.

http://media.web.britannica.com/eb-media/04/92904-034-7C3D6409.jpg

The Radiative Zone

The radiative zone extends to about 70% of the sun's radius. Energy flows from the core through the radiative zone, losing energy in the process.

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The Convective Zone

The convection zone doesn't allow radiation cannot pass as the temperature is too low (about 2 million K at the bottom of the convection zone). The energy pouring from the radiative zone gets trapped and cannot escape, so giant convection currents are set up with hot matter rising and the cooler matter sinking. This results in large bubbles of ionised gas rising through the convection zone, reaching the surface in about 10 days. The hot bubbles rise quickly to higher levels, cooling and expanding. When it becomes cooler, the gas sinks to become reheated and rise again. In this way, heat from the bottom comes to the top.

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The Photosphere

The sunlight we see is emitted from the photosphere. The photosphere is one of the coolest regions of the Sun (about 6000 K), and it is here that sunspots caused by strong magnetic fields can be seen.

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The Chromosphere

The chromosphere's temperature rises from around 6000k to 20,000 K. These high temperatures result in hydrogenemitting a reddish light that can be seen in prominences that project from the sun. The chromosphere contains spikes of gas called spicules that rise through it. Spicules are short-lived phenomena, corresponding to rising jets of gas that move upward at about 30km/sec and last only about 10 minutes.

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The Corona

This is the outer layer of the sun and is the whitish halo seen around the disc in a total solar eclipse. Temperatures range from 2 to 3 million K. The corona can exhibit coronal holes. It is from these holes that a solar wind emanates.

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Sunspots

Sunspots are dark spots that can be seen when look ing at the sun in white light. These spots are dark because they are cooler than their surroundings. The sun generates very strong magnetic fields, and it is a concentration of these magnetic fields that causes sunspots. Sunspots usually occur in pairs, and can last from a few hours, weeks, or months. They work on an 11 year cycle in terms of position and spot amount.

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Prominences

A Prominence is an elongated structure full of material hundreds of times cooler and denser than the surrounding corona. They are held up and insulated by huge magnetic structures and are seen as prominences at the edge of the sun against the black background of space. They can stay suspended above the photosphere for weeks and even months, but eventually become unstable, and erupt.

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Flares

Solar flares are huge explosions on the surface of the sun, throwing out massive amount of material as matter is heated to millions of degrees in a few minutes. They can last from minutes to hours.

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Auroras

Auroras are energetic particles that speed out from the sun both in a steady stream called the solar wind and due to giant eruptions known as coronal mass ejections. The Northern and Southern lights are a result of these events affecting particles on Earth.

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