Helium Sun (9 mb)Helium Sun
Description:
Before Helium was discovered on Earth, Helium was discovered on the Sun, in 1868 by the astronomer Joseph Lockyer. The Sun is made mostly of hydrogen with some helium as well. There are several other chemicals that are present, but only make up 0.1% of the Sun. At the Sun's core, the process of nuclear fusion occurs, which produces incredible amounts of energy. Nuclear fusion is the process of hydrogen combining to form helium under extreme pressure and heat. This process powers the Sun and provides all of the heat and light that we receive on Earth. At the core, where nuclear fusion is occurring, the temperature is 27,000,000°F (15,000,000°C), while the surface of the Sun is 11,000°F (6,000°C).
The Sun is by far the largest object in the solar system. It contains 98% of the total mass in the solar system. 1.3 million Earth's could fit inside the Sun. This dataset is an image of the Sun produced from the light emitted by ionized Helium atoms in the solar chromosphere. The chromosphere is just above the photosphere. It is the thin layer of the Sun's atmosphere, which is about 6000 miles (10,000 km) thick. This image was taken on a day of relatively calm activity on the sun. The bright spots are the locations of solar flares.
Notable Features:
- Image of light emitted by ionized Helium atoms
- Bright spots are locations of solar flares
Data Category
Major: Astronomy
Keywords:
Astronomy, sun, solar flares, helium
| Data Set Name | Helium Sun |
| Data Set Directory Name | helium_sun |
| Data Set Source | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center |
| Data Set Developer | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center |
| Visualization Developer | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center |
| Audio | No |
| Contact | NASA Goddard Space Flight Center |
| Download | FTP |