Category Archives: Sun

Finding Nuclear Fusion

Before the advent of Modern Science and its ability to explain natural phenomena relatively well, we had no idea how the Sun actually worked. Scientists had no idea that the Sun was just a giant ball of really hot gas that’s able to generate light using its own mass. However, over the course of time … Continue reading Finding Nuclear Fusion Continue reading

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Blog 3: Auroras in the Southern United States

On November 20, 2003 Auroras were seen in the southern United States. This is not a normal occurrence as is likely obvious to most of you. Auroras, or the Northern Lights, are caused by charged particles from the sun spiraling around the earth’s magnetic field and hitting the atmosphere. The magnetic field lines of the … Continue reading Blog 3: Auroras in the Southern United States Continue reading

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The Sun in our Solar System

The Sun is a hottest star in the universe. The gravity holds the solar system together. It shines so brightly that the temperature of the sun is about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit while temperatures of the core reaches abundant 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. The sun also orbits about 25,000 light-years from the galactic core. It is […] Continue reading

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What’s the weather like on the Sun?

Just like the Earth, the Sun has weather. The most important features of the Solar Activity includes Sunspots, Solar flares, Coronal mass ejections. and solar winds.  • Sunspots are spots darker than the surrounding area on the Sun’s photosphere caused by concentration of magnetic flux field. Their number varies in an approximately 11-year cycle. • Solar flares … Continue reading What’s the weather like on the Sun? Continue reading

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The Qiantang River Tidal Bore

The Qiantang River runs for 459 km through Zhejiang, China, and flowing into the East China Sea via Hangzhou Bay. From Aug 15th to 21st in the Chinese Lunar Calendar, travelers come to Hangzhou Bay to see the largest tidal bore in the world, which can reach up to 9 meters in height and travel … Continue reading The Qiantang River Tidal Bore Continue reading

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How Much Does Light Weigh?

Photons are massless particles. They move at the speed of light and do not have an intrinsic mass. And since light is made of photons, we can say that light has no mass. Story over, right? Did you know that light can exerts a force on objects? This force can cause them to weigh more. … Continue reading How Much Does Light Weigh? Continue reading

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Where the Zodiac Signs Come From

What’s your sign? This is a common question you may have encountered in your life. While most people aren’t too deep into astrology, chances are that most of us have looked into our daily horoscope at least once for fun. However, a lot of people don’t really know where these signs come from, or why … Continue reading Where the Zodiac Signs Come From Continue reading

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The Fate of Our Solar System

With this being the final blog of the semester, I thought it would be fitting to write about the eventual fate of our Solar System – In approximately 5 billion years, as our Sun’s lifetime on the Main Sequence comes to end, the Sun (through the process of converting  gravitational potential energy to thermal energy) […] Continue reading

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Sunspots

Sunspots are areas of the sun that appear dark because they are cooler than their surroundings and are used as an indicator of solar activity. They are formed because material at the solar equator moves significantly faster than the materials at the poles, causing the magnetic field lines to become warped. If the magnetic field … Continue reading Sunspots Continue reading

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The Death of the Sun

Unfortunately, our Solar System will not exist forever–our Sun’s lifespan is indeed finite. Sunlike stars stay on the main sequence for approximately 10 billions years. In other words, this is about how long the Sun will shine. The Sun is about 4.6 billion years old, so we may expect about 5.4 billion more years of … Continue reading The Death of the Sun Continue reading

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