ESS Sun Notes

1. The Sun

2. Life Span of the Sun
• Based on its initial mass; will become a red giant and engulf Earth;
total life span would be about 10 billion years

3. How does the sun produce energy?
• The nuclear fusion of hydrogen
into helium in the core;
releases energy as
electromagnetic radiation

4. Main Source of Energy on Earth:
• Electromagnetic radiation travels
through space (a vacuum) to Earth
• Some of that radiation is absorbed
or reflected by Earth’s
atmosphere
• About half is absorbed by Earth’s
surface
• Some is reflected by Earth’s
surface

5. What are sunspots?
• Cooler areas of high magnetic
activity on the Sun’s surface;
their abundance peaks about
every 11 years

6. Solar Flares:
• Eruption of energy/radiation
from release of magnetic energy
associated with sunspots

7. Effects of Solar Flares:
• Can effect our upper atmosphere (create auroras) or potentially
disable our communications satellites

8. What protects us from solar storms/wind?
• Earth’s magnetic field provides a barrier to most of the sun’s
disturbances