Sun Research Papers

The importance of the sun has been recognized throughout the course of human history. With many if not all cultures and civilizations at one point or another believing it to be some form of a deity (Cain, 2015). In only the past few centuries or decades have the processes that power and created the sun been unmasked and been studied. Ongoing research into the sun by various scientists and disciplines has allowed for us to better understand how the sun produces energy and how this energy enters our atmosphere.

The sun, sitting at the center of the solar system, serves as an important player in the survivability of our planet. Without the sun, Earth would likely have no means to create or sustain life, at least as it is known today. The sun

It follows a process that is essentially a large-scale fusion reaction (Cain, 2015). Scientist harken the suns abilities back to its creation when it is believed to have been formed via the collapse of a nebula, through the force and weight of its own gravity. A nebula is a large cloud of gas and particles. This idea is also referred to as Nebula theory (Cain, 2015). Said nebular collapse not only crafted the large radiating ball of light and energy in the center of the solar system, known as the sun, it triggered a chain reaction of several other processes that allowed centrally located hydrogen to fuse in such a way as to produce solar energy (Cain, 2015). The aforementioned process is also known as nuclear fusion. It releases an astronomically large amount of energy in light and heat form. The process by which said energy reaches earth and the rest of the solar system from the center of the sun involve many crucial steps. In many ways, it comes down to the layers of the sun and the roles they play (Cain,

It is in this part of the suns structure where energy is largely produced through the process of hydrogen atoms being converted into the nuclei of helium (Cain, 2015). Said process is widely possible because of the extreme pressure and temperature that is found within the core. The core of the sun is estimated to be roughly 250 billion atmospheres and 16 million kelvins. The result of the above process is the fusion of four protons, the hydrogen nuclei into a single alpha particle. An alpha particle is created when two protons and two neutrons are bound together (Cain, 2015). This forms a particle that is the same as a helium nucleus. The reaction releases two positrons, two neutrinos, and energy. The sun is able to release energy at a rate of approximately 4.3 million metric tons per second. This produces roughly 38,500 septillion watts (3.846 x 10^26 W) per second. To find an equivalent energy source, one would have to ignite 9.2 x 10^10 megatons of TNT or dynamite per second to come even somewhat close to the magnitude of the energy produced inside of the sun (Cain,