Our Sun

By Rex A. Crouch

© 16 April 20 05

2005

Page 1 of 17
 Abstract
This is a brief look at our Sun, its creation, its structure, function, and some of the internal and
surface characteristics of our star as well as recent developments in solar observations, and a few
of my own personal experiments as they related to the Sun.

Introduction. Just less than 5 billion years
ago, in a spiraling arm of our Milky Way
galaxy, a cloud of gas, and dust began to
compressing under its own weight. The
particles within the cloud's core became so
densely packed that they frequently collided,
and fused together. The fusion process
released tremendous amounts of heat, and
light which could then compete with the
force of gravity within the cloud. The two
forces eventually found an equilibrium
point, and a star was born. This star in
question is our Sun. All stars in our galaxy
and other galaxies come in various sizes and
colors. All stars are relatively unique. Our
sun is a medium sized star known as a
yellow dwarf, or a G Class star on the
Hertzsprung-Russel Diagram. Our Sun,
located just 149,598,000 km from Earth has
a radius of 696,000 km, a mass
of 1.9891 X 1030 kg , and a surface
temperature of about 5800 Kelvin. Our Sun
is composed of (by mass), 74% hydrogen,
25% helium, and 1% all other elements.
Because hydrogen has very little mass, the
composition of the Sun by number of atoms
would be 92% hydrogen, 7.8% helium, and
0.1% all other elements. The cloud from
which our Sun formed did not use all of its
gases and dust to make the Sun. The
leftover gases and dust were used to form
the planets of our solar system (Harvard
Science Department, 2002).
Our Sun has been fusing hydrogen into
helium and providing Earth with radiant
energy for about 4.5 billion years, and we
expected it to continue doing so for another
4.5 billion years. Of course one day our Sun
will expend it hydrogen to the point that it
can no longer fight the force of gravity of its
developing iron core. Gravity will then
begin to compress the Sun under its own
weight; yet again but the fusion process is
changing as the Sun matures. The
compression causes the new helium particles
inside of the core to collide hard enough that
they can stick together and fuse. The core
then begins to fuse helium into carbon to
create enough energy to maintain its balance
with the force of gravity it is quickly
growing iron core. Creating carbon gives off
more energy than did the making of helium.
The energy being pumped out of the core
radiates through the outer layers of the sun.
The introduction of too much energy into
the sun’s envelope heats up the envelope
particles to the point that the envelope
expands. The Sun's envelope will expand
and engulf all of the inner solar system out
to the radius of Mars. In the process the Sun
will drop in temperature; this change in
temperature will be marked by a change in
color as the star becomes a red giant. Our
sun will continue to live like this for maybe
another billion years before pulsating and
exploding into a planetary nebula probably
leaving a white dwarf at the center.
That is the life and death of our Sun in a
nutshell.
Sun’s Structure. The structure of the Sun
is like looking at a fascinating piece of
machinery except is has no tangible moving
parts. In the below image developed by the
SOHO Project Team, we begin with the

Page 2 of 17
Sun’s Core where nuclear fusion that
produces the heat and light we experience
here on Earth occurs. Next we find the
Radiation Zone followed by the Convection
Zone. The Photosphere, which is what we
typically see in one of the lower layers of
the Sun’s atmosphere is the next layer. We
next find the Chromosphere which is a
reddish orange layer thousands of kilometers
thick. Lastly we find the Corona which is
the upper most layer of atmosphere on the
Sun; this layer extends millions of
kilometers thick. Other aspects depicted in
the below image are a prominence, and flare
which will be discussed in more detail later.
SOHO Project
Sun’s Rotation. ―The Sun is not actually a
solid body.‖ Subsequently its rotational
period is not well defined. To imagine a
sphere of water suspended and spinning
about on an axis system; water would tend
to spin faster in some placed than in others.
The modern measurements the Sun rotates
once about every 25 days near its equator,
28 days at 40 degrees latitude, and 36 days
near the poles. The rotation is the same as
that of the planets which is sometimes
Page 3 of 17
referred to as direct (University of
Tennessee Astrophysics Department, 2005).
Fusion Process.
As mentioned in the introduction, the Sun is
composed of predominantly hydrogen, then
helium, and a small percent of all other
elements. The fusion process, as mentioned,
occurs at the Sun’s core where the
temperature is believed to be about 15
million °C and the pressure of gravity can
alter the nuclear bonds of atoms. Because of
the extreme heat and gravity on the Sun the
fusion process is more complex than the
process here on Earth in that the fusion
process is a step-by-step process called a
proton-proton chain. In this fusion process
two atoms of hydrogen are combined to
create what is called helium-4 and energy.
This occurs in several steps:
The pressure at the Sun’s core forces two
hydrogen protons to combine to form a
deuterium. Deuterium is one hydrogen atom
with one neutron, one positron, and a single
neutrino. Heat is beginning in this step.
A proton and a deuterium atom combine to
form a helium-3 atom. A helium-3 is the
combination of two protons with one
neutron, and a single photon of gamma ray.
Lastly, two of these helium-3 atoms join
under pressure to form a helium-4. This
consists of two protons, two neutrons, and
two protons.
This three step process accounts for about
85 percent of the sun's energy. The
remaining 15 percent comes from the
following reactions:
A helium-3 and a helium-4 combine to form
a beryllium-7 which is not the most stable
form of beryllium. This consists of four
protons and three neutrons, and a gamma
ray.
A beryllium-7, because of its positive
nature, captures an electron to become
lithium-7. Lithium-7 consists of three
protons and four neutrons, and one neutrino.
The lithium-7 then combines with a proton
to form two helium-4 atoms.
The helium-4 atoms have less mass than the
two hydrogen atoms that started the fusion
process. Subsequently the difference in
mass was converted to energy as Einstein
elucidated in his theory of relativity,
(E=mc2). The energy is emitted in various
frequency lengths to include gamma,
extreme ultraviolet, ultraviolet light, X-rays,
visible light, infrared, microwaves and radio
waves. If you were conducting the equations
in your head with empirical formulas you
may have noticed that some neutrinos and
protons were not accounted for at the end of
the equation. These unaccounted for
particles that fell out of the equations are
emitted from the Sun and create the solar
winds which will also be addressed with
more scrutiny.
Before continuing I want to mention that the
word ―burns‖ although inaccurate when
talking about stars is nonetheless a
commonly used word to refer to the fusion
process in the Sun or a star.
Heat – radiation
Light – radiation
Bandwidths
Sun’s Magnetic Activities. Magnetism is
the key to understand the Sun. Magnetic
fields are the cause of all features we see on
and above the Sun. The direction of moving
charged particles is changed by magnetic
forces. This forces increased orbital speeds
of some electrons and slows others; this also
induces electrons to jump to higher orbits
within atoms. These changes in electron
speeds changes the light emitted in terms of
frequency. These changes in frequency
allow us to remotely measure the Sun's
magnetic field by observing the difference in
the energy of the light emitted as these
electrons jump from orbit to orbit. Both
strength and direction of magnetic forces are
measured on the Sun however we still do not
fully understand the Sun’s magnetic forces
(NASA Solar Physics Department, 2005).

In addition to the last three steps, the Sun Initially a Dutch physicist named Pieter
also burns other elements at various Zeeman observed in 1896 that a spectral line
temperatures at other layers within the Sun splits when the atoms are subject to very
as depicted in the below graph: intensive magnetic fields. The more intense
these magnetic field the more intense the
spits in the spectral lines. Between Zeeman
Temperature and the works of George Hale, it was shown
~2 x 108 °K ~5 x 108 °K ~10 x 108 °K that sunspots occur where magnetic fields
He burning occurs C burning occurs myriad reactions concentrate. The importance of the
12
3 4He —> 12C + C + 12C —> 24Mg + occur magnetic field of the Sun was becoming
20
4
He + 12C —> 16O + Ne —> 4He + 16O
12 20 4
C + 12C —> 23Na + Ne + He —> clearer.
4 16 20 1 24
He + O —> Ne H Mg +
12
+ C + 12C —> 20Ne + 2 20Ne —> 16O +
4
He + 20 4
Ne —> He
24
Mg + Astronomers began taking pictures of the
24
24
Mg + Mg + 4He —> Sun at two wavelengths, one just greater
28
Si +
44
Ca + 4He —> 48Ti than the other and between the two pictures
+ they could construct what is called a
NASA table magnetogram in which the magnetic fields
of the solar atmosphere are displayed. In
these manetograms the dark blue colors

Page 4 of 17
represented area polarized north while the
yellow colors represented magnetic lines
polarized south. The sunspots did not seem
to relate however the magnetic lines did. By
the 1960s the astronomer Babcock presented
the magnetic-dynamo model. In this model
the magnetic fields wrap around the Sun,
kink, and eventually unwrap. The study of
Helioseismology, addressed further in this
paper, added further explanations to the
phenomena of magnetism in the Sun.
Ultimately, astronomers learned that the
magnetic field of the Sun expanded deeper
into space than anyone of them initially
thought. Southwestern Research

Of the Sun’s magnetic characteristics that Along the Sun's magnetic equator, the
affects us most is the Interplanetary opposite open field lines run parallel to each
Magnetic Field. other and are separated by a thin sheet of
current called the "interplanetary current
The interplanetary magnetic field is a part of sheet". Because of an offset between the
the Sun's magnetic field that is carried into Sun’s rotational and magnetic fields, the
solar system by the solar winds. The current is tilted as depicted by the image
interplanetary magnetic field lines are below.
sometimes referred to as "frozen in" to the
solar wind plasma. As the Sun does rotate,
the interplanetary magnetic field, much like
the solar winds, travels outward in a spiral.
The interplanetary magnetic fields originate
in regions on the Sun where the magnetic
fields appear to extend indefinitely into
space; these regions are sometimes referred
to as ―open‖ magnetic fields (Southwestern
Research Institute, 2005). The below image
from Southwestern Research Institute assist
in depicting this spiral pattern of the
interplanetary magnetic field. The IMF is a weak field, varying in strength
near the Earth from 1 to 37 nT, with an
average value of ~6 nT.

This interplanetary current sheet and

interplanetary magnetic field extend outward
dissipating over distance. The end of the
effects of the interplanetary magnetic field is
found past Pluto where the outgoing solar
wind and the incoming plasma from
interstellar space meet, this is called the

Page 5 of 17
Heliopause, or the boundary of our solar
system.
The Sun’s magnetic activities lead us into
the surface features on the Sun caused by
magnetic activities.
Features on the Sun’s Surface
The below image from reveals plumes,
flares, plagues, and strongly depicts the lines
of magnetic flux that twist, and turn the
flaming gases over the surface of the Sun
(SOHO, 2001).
SOHO
Sunspots and Plagues. Sunspots have been
monitored extensively for a long period of
time allowing us to determine cyclic
behaviors. Galileo first began monitoring
the sun with the use of a telescope in 1610.
He made an observation each day for 35
days at about the same time of day
documenting sunspots. This affords us our
first view of the motion of sunspots across
the surface of the Sun. The following image
was drawn by Galileo (Galileo Project,
1995. Galileo’s improper solar
observations later led to blindness.
Page 6 of 17
Galileo Project
These sunspots are actually disturbances in
the magnetic fields in which magnetic lines
protrude out of the Sun inducing sunspots.
These sunspots are areas on the solar surface
that appear dark because they are cooler
than the surrounding photosphere. They are
about 4500 K which is about 1500 K lower
than the temperature of the rest of the
photosphere. The darkness is only relative.
Should you view just the sunspot against the
darkness of space it would glow brightly.
The darkest region in the center of the
sunspot is called the umbra and the region
around the umbra is named the penumbra.
These sunspots tend to fluctuate in intensity
over a period of 11.1 years. This 11.1 year
cycle is known as Solar Maximum and Solar
Minimum. The activity of the Sun increases
drastically at Solar Maximum exhibiting
more sunspot and other surface phenomena
during any other time. The below images
depict the vast differences between
Maximum and Minimum.

The below image depicts a quickly growing
sun spot in the lower left portion of the
image while the four small dots in the upper
right are the remnants of a previously
massive sunspot
Space Weather Image
In this image we see two sunspot numbers.
There are specific techniques used to
calculate these sun spot numbers. Of the
two sun spot numbering systems in use
today, the foremost is the "Boulder Sunspot
Number," which is computed by the NOAA
Space Environment Center using a formula
created by Mr. Rudolph Wolf in 1848. In
his equation, R=k (10g+s), where R is the
sunspot number; g is the number of sunspot
groups on the solar disk; s is the total
number of individual spots in all the sited
Page 7 of 17
groups; and k is a variable scaling factor
(typically <1) accounting for observing
conditions and equipment from binoculars to
space telescopes. Scientists combine data
from lots of observatories -- each with its
own k factor -- to arrive at a daily value.
The second system is called the
"International Sunspot Number," which is
provided by the Sunspot Index Data Center
in Belgium. The Boulder and the
International numbers are calculated from
the same basic formula except they use data
different observatories; regardless, if you
were to divide the International Sunspot
Number or the Boulder Sunspot Number by
15, you will reach about the same number
visible through a standard telescope.
Sunspots tend to end in two fashions; they
either fade away as the magnetic line retract
back into the Sun or the magnetic lines
breakdown resulting in an explosion called a
solar flare.
Plagues.
Plague is French for "beach‖. Plagues are
bright cloud-like features found around
sunspots that represent areas of higher
temperature and gas density within the
Chromosphere of the Sun. Plagues are
visible when photographed through filters
passing the spectral light of calcium or
hydrogen.
These plagues are an extended emission
feature of an active region that exists from
the emergence of the initial magnetic flux
inducing the sun spot until the widely
scattered remnant magnetic fields merge
with the background.
These bright features are found near almost
all active sunspot groups, and occur on a
larger scale, and are brighter than facula.
The below image depicts a sunspot adjacent
to a plage. In the image the plages is the
represented as the whiter area near the top.
It is fascinating to see that the plague
disturbs the field lines otherwise uniformly
surrounding the sunspot.
create, depending on their intensity; violent
solar winds that effect power grids here on
Earth, spacecrafts, and even the Earth’s
magnetic shield and atmosphere. These
solar flares are divided into four classes in
which X-Class is the most sever and B-Class
is essentially benign (Phillips, 2005)
Type
Measurement is Intensity (I) in
Watts/ m2

4
X Class Flare I 10
5 4
M Class Flare 10 I 10
6 5
C Class Flare 10 I 10
6
Big Bear Solar Observatory B Class Flare I 10

Solar Prominences. Solar Prominences are

features found on, at, or near the surface of
the Sun. The term prominence, strictly by
definition refers to protrusions, projection,
protuberance, or surface abnormalities. In
the realms of astronomy some consider
prominences to be solar surface events
caused by magnetic activities in the Sun
while others tend to refer to all surface
activities as prominences. For the purpose
this paper, I will refer to all protrusions,
projections, and protuberances as
prominences. These prominences are
predominately caused by magnetism in one
or more ways. Magnetic activities will be
responsible for most of the remaining items
discussed here. Of solar prominences I will
address:
Solar Flares are sometime mistaken for
Hyder Flares which will be addressed under
Filaments.
Filaments. Filaments consist of relatively
cool, and dense gas suspended over the
Sun’s surface in magnetic loops. These
filaments collapse when their magnetic
fields become unstable or otherwise
collapse.
The following two images show the before
and after collapse of a solar filament viewed
from the perpendicular:

Solar Flares
Filaments
Hyder Flares
Polar Plumes

Solar Flares. Solar Flares are massive Space Weather

eruptions of gases near the Sun’s surface

sending energy into space through the entire A solar filament when viewed from a profile
electromagnetic spectrum. These flares can appears to be a large standing flame—they

Page 8 of 17
can appear to be very dramatic as they hover
over the surface as depicted in the image
below taken using ultraviolet cameras.
originating from bright points near the limb
extend 30 to 60 arcseconds above the limb.
The ramification or significance of these
Polar Plumes has not been fully addressed as
of current date. The following two images
taken by SOHO were at the 1032 Å
wavelength (white light).

SOHO Project

Hyder Flares. Hyder flares, named for

Charles Hyder, occur when magnetic field SOHO Project
lines protrude through the Sun’s surface
under the filament and breakdown the The following image was taken at 195 Å
magnetic lines creating the filament. These wavelength (extreme ultraviolet) clearly
can be observed, much like most flares, in depicting the plumes near the polar regions
the Hydrogen-Alpha wavelength of 656.3 as tiny jets:
nm. These explosions typically occur away
from the spotted regions. As these are rare,
they are typically mistaken for solar flares
and there are few images available.

Polar Plumes. According to Harvard

University, Polar Plumes are collimated
flow tubes, specifically ―magnetically
unipolar, linear, high density structures‖,
that may carry the majority of the mass and
energy of the solar winds that emanate from
high-latitude regions of the Sun’s Corona.
These Plumes occur in regions of simple
magnetic topology in contrast to the rest of
the Sun. Plumes were original observed SOHO Project

using white light but are also visible using

Coronal Mass Ejections. According
extreme ultraviolet. Observation of Polar
NASA Solar Physics Department, Coronal
Plumes using the SUMER instrumentation
mass ejections are very large clouds of gas
on SOHO have indicated through use of
and plasma threaded by magnetic field lines
spectroheliograms with 1.5 arcsecond steps
to the surface of the Sun and subsequently
extending to about 8 arcminutes that these
ejected from the Sun over the course of a
Polar Plumes, narrow jets or macrospicules

Page 9 of 17
few hours. These Coronal Mass Ejections
disrupt normal solar winds and cause solar
winds of their own. These ejections release
billions of ton’s of material into our
planetary space at speed in excess of 500
km/s. According the University of
Washington, there may be more than 10
billion tons of electrified and charged gases
erupting from the Sun during each Coronal
Mass Ejection. The below image from
SOHO depicts an intense Corona Mass
Ejection from the Sun’s southern pole
region.
SOHO
These Corona Mass Ejections are not
random but rather a method that the Sun
uses to clean-up unwanted magnetic fields
left by Sunspots and other abnormalities
(Australian Institute of Geoscientists, 2005).
The Sun is in fact housekeeping and
sweeping out the dust to paraphrase the
Geoscience web site.
―What emerges is a systematic
pattern in the outbursts. It changes
during the sunspot cycle, as the
numbers of dark sunspots seen each
day on the Sun’s bright surface first
increases and then diminishes again.
Page 10 of 17
The mass ejections are often directly
associated with the sunspots, which
always lie in the Sun’s equatorial
belt or at mid-latitudes.
Other mass ejections occur near the
Sun’s poles, far away from any
sunspots. These events are most
frequent at the peak of sunspot
activity, but they can continue for a
while as the count of sunspots begins
to decline.‖
The SOHO Project has compiled data as
depicted below that shows an increase in
Corona Mass Ejections during Solar
Maximum and in terms of an increase we
also see that speed of the ejections is nearly
300 km/s faster during Maximum then
Minimum however, the variations in width
are essentially unchanged between
Maximum and Minimum.
Solar Winds. The solar wind streams off of
the Sun radially in all directions at speeds of
near 400 km/s. The source of the solar wind
is the Sun's super hot corona. The
temperature of the corona is so high that the
Sun's gravity can no longer retain it.
Although the solar wind is always directed
away from the Sun it is not uniform. The
speed changes and the wind carries with it
magnetic clouds and there are interacting
regions where high speed winds catches up
with slow speed winds, and of course there
are composition variations of all of these
factors. The speed of the solar winds vary
greatly from as high 800 km/s to as low as
300 km/s. The solar winds from the poles
has been measured to a limited extent in
which the Ulysses Mission launched from
Discovery went as far as Jupiter, and used
the gravity of the planet to double back and
pass over the south pole of the Sun 1994,
and the north pole in 1995. The orbital
pattern places the spacecraft over the solar
poles once every 6 years. The Ulysses
Mission found that there is an abundance of
He3 in the solar winds, and deuterium in the
outer convection zone during polar studies
of the Sun. Not unknown to us but
nonetheless confirmed the Ulysses Mission
was that solar flares and class III radio burst
are related to solar winds and solar
maximum.
Study of Features Internal to the Sun
Helioseismology. At the Wilcox Solar
Observatory at Stanford University the
subject of Helioseismology is the
developing subject for them. This is the
science of studying wave oscillation within
the sun. As the sun is not a solid object
there is no one source of seismic waves. In
lieu of a titanic plate as found on Earth it is
termed the source of agitation causing solar
waves and in most cases the source of
agitation is the convective region. As this is
one region it is treated as a continuum. The
oscillations have amplitudes of no more than
about 0.1 meters per second. The goal at the
Wilcox Observatory is to measure shifts of a
spectrum line to an accuracy of parts per
million of its width (Hoeksema, 2005).
The types of waves the helioseismologist are
looking for fall into three types – Acoustic
Waves, Gravity Waves, and Surface Gravity
Waves.
Page 11 of 17
Acoustic Waves. Generating p-mode
oscillations. The p-mode oscillations or
pressure mode oscillations are forms of
acoustic waves – Consider the fact that the
Sun is ringing but not like a church bell
being struck once but rather a bell be struck
by millions of little particles over a
continuous span. There is not one loud ring
but a constant trill of rings. In terms of
oscillations, we are not discussing flat two
dimensional oscillations, nor even three
dimensional oscillations like the ripples seen
on-top of water but rather three dimensional
spherical oscillations known as p-mode
(pressure mode) shaped oscillations. The p
modes can be described in terms of spherical
harmonics. The spherical harmonics are
characterized by three whole numbers: The
order, given by n in physics is the number of
nodes in the radial direction. The harmonic
degree is known as l and indicates the
number of node lines on the surface. This
correlates directly to the total number of
planes slicing through the Sun. The third
number, m, tells how many of the surface
nodal lines cross the equator and also gives
the phase. The term m has boundaries of -l
to +l as the direction of the waves are
important in many cases. The term m,
describes the number of planes slicing
through the Sun longitudinally. The
oscillations are nearly radial. The
frequencies depend on the travel time of an
acoustic wave across the star.
The below image depicts p mode
oscillations in the l direction.
Stanford Image

The next image depicts p-mode oscillations

Stanford Image
in the l and m direction.

The p mode with this spatial pattern causes

Gravity Waves. Generating g-
motion of the surface that alternate in sign
mode oscillations. According to Newton,
(in or out of the surface) in adjacent regions.
for every action there is an equal and
The difference between m=+/-18 is the
opposite reaction. For the p-mode
phase (in or out) of the pattern. Note that
oscillations, the reaction is the g-mode
we have essentially broken the Sun up into
oscillations. These are the gravity mode
Earth equivalent of latitude and longitude.
oscillations or the thought of as the restoring
force or gravitational force perturbation.
Gravity mode arises because gravity tends to
smooth out material inhomogeneities along
equipotential level-surfaces of the Sun. As
the p-mode oscillations are non-uniform,
they are a form of agitation as such is the g-
mode oscillations, subsequently these
oscillations are referred to as perturbations.

Surface Gravity Waves. Generating f

mode oscillations. Everything wants to
vibrate at a frequency that specific to its
shape and composition. For stars, this
oscillation is the fundamental oscillation, the

Page 12 of 17
f-mode oscillation. The nature frequency of
vibration. The f-mode (fundamental) is a
stable mode which exists only for non-radial
oscillations. The frequency is proportional to
the mean density of the star. The f-mode
can also be derived with Newton’s uniform
density of stars formula.

2 2l l 1 M
2l 1 R 3

Each oscillation mode is but one sampling

Another means of looking at the rotations
of the Sun’s interior which acts like a
shows that there are correlations between
resonant cavity. Of the p and f modes there
frequency ranges and time (in terms of days)
are about 107 modes which does not include within the Sun.
n harmonics.

The study of p, g, and f mode oscillations is

serving to make the Sun transparent
allowing deeper study of sun which brings
us to projects that SOHO has been
developing in which the internal rotation of
the Sun is now being map.

Observations by the SOHO Satellite. In

direct correlation with Helioseismology is
the internal mapping of the Sun’s rotation by
the SOHO project as Dr. Fleck of the SOHO
project elucidated with me. While we have
known for extensive period of time how the
out surface of the Sun rotated is has not been
until recent technology allowed us to make
the Sun transparent and look at the inner
rotations. One of the most significant
observations has been the rotation of the
convection zone. In the below SOHO image
we see the stability of the convection zone
as a uniform rotation but varies drastically
as it spans out from 0 to 90 degrees.
Recent Developments. There have been a
multitude of recent developments in solar
observation.
Helioseismology Holography. As
mentioned there is the growing and
developing science of Helioseismology.
Synoptic Imaging of Active Regions on the
far side of the Sun using Helioseismology
Holography to monitor condensations of
magnetic flux allowing astronomers to
monitor sunspots on the far side of the Sun
and providing more accurate space weather.

Page 13 of 17
Corona In-Flows. Still under study are
newly discovered Corona In-Flows in which
matter traveling between 20 km/s and 100
km/s is falling back into the Sun through the
Corona. These In-Flow rates correlated with
the occurrence of non-polar coronal holes
and other indicators of nonaxisymmetric
open flux per SOHO Project members.
Personal Experiments. For the purpose of
developing my research skills I have opted
to conduct several of my own experiments.
As stated, the purpose is to develop my own
research skills, and practice analyzing and
documenting my findings. I don’t anticipate
finding anything new but the application
will be a learning experience for me
nonetheless.
Measure lambda and voltage monitored
over a 200 meter antenna of 9.5
oriented parallel to the ground, and East
West in direction. Measurements were
conducted at various times of the day and
night to discern any difference as the angle
of the sun varied throughout the day.
This experiment failed miserably as there
was no way of discerning exactly where
these long wave frequencies were
originating or even isolating one frequency
range to monitor. This experiment should
be conducted again, except care should be
taken to ensure that the antenna is shielded
from stray RF, and a band-pass filter should
be employed to examining one particular
segment of low frequency at a time.
Measure diameter of sun using a high
frequency receiver. In measuring the
diameter of the Sun using a 10 GHZ to 12
GHZ receiver on a parabolic dish I learned
nothing new about the diameter of the Sun,
but the experiment itself was interesting. I
measured the distance across the dish and
then I aligned the parabolic receiver to the
Sun’s path. Connecting the receiver to a
Page 14 of 17
recording device and a monitor I was able to
visually discern when a change in intensity
began. A time measurement from this point,
and I terminated the time measurement
when the signal intensity dropped.
The Sun traversed the 72 cm dish in 4 hours
and 24 minutes. Bisecting the dish into two
right angle triangles this turned the
experiment into a trigonometry exercise
with a visual confirmation on an LCD
screen. The Sun is in fact 1,380,000 km.
Photovoltaic cell measurements. Measure
intensity of various frequencies by using
photovoltaic cells receptive to specific
frequencies. The photovoltaic cells produce
a voltage representative to the amount of
light received in that bandwidth. The 525
Nanometer (nm) wavelength corresponds to
the green light produced by our Sun. 626
nm is red light produced, and received by us
here on Earth. I also conducted
measurements at two infrared wavelengths
being 816 nm, and 940 nm, both obviously
out of our visual spectrum. The data table
also shows air mass which is a based on 1.00
representing the mass of air directly
overhead as the baseline. Measuring the
angle of the Sun to your position can give
you the mass of air the Sunlight must travel
through to reach your measurement location.
I also sought to compare voltage outputs of
photocells to protons per centimeter cubed
I collected the following data on 27 March
2005 during clear skies, and stable high
barometric pressure:
37° Sun 525 nm .425 V
rising
626 nm .452 V
816 nm .519 V
940 nm .508 V
48° Sun 525 nm .564 V our solar system. The basic structure and
rising inner workings were dissected to gain an
626 nm .604 V insight to how our star creates energy—
816 nm .617 V looking at the fusion process from the
940 nm .618 V chemical level we saw that the Sun converts
hydrogen into helium and how this
43° Sun 525 nm .337 V accounted for 85% of the Sun’s energy
setting while the remainder came from burns of
626 nm .304 V other various elements derived from the
816 nm .332 V fusions process. The Sun’s Magnetic
940 nm .335 V activities were then addressed covering the
Sun’s basic magnetic features to the
33° Sun 525 nm .220 V Interplanetary Magnetic Field that carries
setting the solar winds. A glimpse at the features
626 nm .237 V on the Sun’s surface was provided in which
we looked at sunspots and various solar
816 nm .275 V
prominences. Corona Mass Ejections, Solar
940 nm .274 V
Winds, and touched upon the internal fusion
machine as we delved deeper to touch on the
Conclusion of light frequency
inner workings through Helioseismology to
measurements:
find the internal rotations of our star. In
contacting researchers from various solar
The lower the Sun angle which corresponds
research facilities I found them to be very
to thicker air mass, the lower the output
helpful and insightful as I queried their
intensity of all bandwidths. This was
recent developments. Recent developments
obvious without an experiment, but was
were fascinating and I for one am waiting
fascinating to see first hand to what degree
anxiously to see the results of the new
the impact of sun angle has radiation
studies. Lastly I touched on some of my
received by a position here on Earth.
own personal experimentation conducted for
The intensity of shorter wavelengths was
personal development. I found that a 6000
higher than those in the visible light
word paper on the Sun was truly a difficult
spectrum. This is something that I
subject in that the limitation of words was at
previously did not know and sparked some
a threshold in which we are just above
additional research on my part. Monitoring
layman talk, but skimming the advance
protons per cubic centimeter through SOHO
scientific dialog. This paper turned-out to
as I conducted these measurements on the
be a document in transition in which I
four light frequencies, I found no
learned a great deal about our Sun, and
correlations to voltage outputs of the four
developed an appreciation for how much
frequencies examined and proton output by
more this is to know.
the Sun.

Summary. In summary, I provided an

overview of the subject matter that
comprises our Sun. From the Sun’s birth
out of stellar gas and search for an
equilibrium in gravity and burn to become a
star to the eventual death of the life-force in

Page 15 of 17
 References

Albert Van Heldon ―Galileo Project,‖ 1995, http://galileo.rice.edu (February 10, 2005)

Amara Graps, ―Helioseismology,‖ 2005, http://soi.stanford.edu/results/heliowhat.html

(February 14, 2005)

Australian Institute of Geoscientists ―Predicting Solar Outburst,‖ 2005,

http://www.aig.asn.au/solar_outbursts.htm (March 25, 2005)

Bernhard Fleck, PhD. ―Dr. SOHO,‖ 22 February 2005, personal email (22 February 2005)

Craig C. Freudenrich, Ph.D. ―How Stuff Works,‖ How the Sun Works, 2005,
http://science.howstuffworks.com/sun1.htm (February 9, 2005)

(Einstein’s) general theory of relativity

Harvard Science Department, ―The Sun,‖ April 11, 2002,

http://hea-www.harvard.edu/scied/SUN/sunpage.html (February 22, 2005)

NASA ―Jet Propulsion Laboratory,‖ 2005,

http://genesismission.jpl.nasa.gov/science/mod3_SunlightSolarHeat/FusionChemistry

(February 22, 2005)

NASA ―NASA Solar Physics,‖ 2005,

http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/cmes.htm

(March 25, 2005)

(Newton’s) second law

SOHO ―The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory,‖ 2005,

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov

(February 9, 2005)

Southwestern Research Institute ―Interplanetary Magnetic Field,‖ 2005,

Page 16 of 17
 http://pluto.space.swri.edu/IMAGE/glossary/IMF.html

(February 23, 2005)

Tony Phillips, PhD. ―Space Weather,‖ 2005, http://www.spaceweather.com

(February 9, 2005)

Todd Hoeksema, PhD. ―Solar Research Paper,‖ personal email (14 February 2005)

University of Tennessee ―Sunspots,‖ 2005,

http://csep10.phys.utk.edu/astr162/lect/sun/sunspots.html (February 8, 2005)

University of Washington ―Analyzing a Coronal Mass Ejection from the Sun,‖ 2005,

http://www.astro.washington.edu/larson/Astro101/CoursePak/lab03_solar_cme.pdf

(March 23, 2005)

Page 17 of 17