Sun and Solar System

• Sun


  A hot glowing ball of hydrogen and helium, a 4.5 billion-year-old yellow dwarf star providing the energy that sustains life on Earth at the center of the solar system
• Activities of the Sun

  1. Solar wind

  2. Prominences

  3. Solar flares

  4. Sunspots
• Mercury


  • Smallest and closest planet to the sun, has no atmosphere
• Venus


  • Has a core of molten iron, hottest planet in the solar system, rotates the slowest among the planets
• Earth


  • The only planet in the universe known to harbor life
• Mars


  • The Red Planet, covered with iron-rich dust
• Jupiter


  • Biggest planet, has the Great Red Spot
• Saturn


  • Has prominent rings
• Uranus


  • Ice giant, orbits on its side unlike other planets
• Neptune


  • The windiest planet
• Milky Way


  The galaxy that includes our solar system
• Comets


  "Dirty snowballs"; with tails of dust and gases, forced from the head by solar radiation; tail always points away from the sun
• Meteor


  A meteoroid as it burns up in the atmosphere; "shooting star"
• Meteorite


  A meteoroid that does not completely burn up
• Moon


  Earth's only natural satellite
• Black Holes


  Collapsed stars that resulted to huge gravitational forces where even light cannot escape
• Quasars


  Massive, remote celestial objects emitting remarkably large amounts of energy
• Radio Pulsars


  Intermittent radio signals emitted by dying stars (neutron stars)
• The asteroid belt is found between Mars and Jupiter
• Layers of the Sun

  • Corona
  • Chromosphere
  • Photosphere
  • Convection zone
  • Radiation zone
  • Core
• Corona


  • Uppermost part of the atmosphere
  • Millions of miles thick
  • Source of solar wind
• Chromosphere


  • Orange red layer of the atmosphere
  • Thousands of miles thick
  • Middle layer
• Photosphere


  • Visible from earth
  • Lower atmosphere
• Convection zone


  Upper layer of the sun
• Radiation zone


  Deep inside the sun
• Core


  • Sun's energy source
  • Where nuclear fusion occurs (hydrogen fuses with helium)