Questions about the Sun

jack_spratt

jack_spratt

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Where does the oxygen come from to feed the fire of the sun? It must need massive amounts!
Why does the sun burn for so long? Surely the matter would have burnt up by now?

What exactly is the sun? Are we sure it is what they say it is?
 
jack_spratt said:
Where does the oxygen come from to feed the fire of the sun? It must need massive amounts!
Why does the sun burn for so long? Surely the matter would have burnt up by now?

What exactly is the sun? Are we sure it is what they say it is?
Click to expand...

It doesn't burn oxygen. It has a lot of matter to burn.

It's a big ball of fire. Pretty sure if you go outside and look you'll agree it's a big ball of fire.
 
jack_spratt said:
Where does the oxygen come from to feed the fire of the sun? It must need massive amounts!
Why does the sun burn for so long? Surely the matter would have burnt up by now?

What exactly is the sun? Are we sure it is what they say it is?
Click to expand...
The sun is not on fire.

It's a nuclear fusion reaction with hydrogen being turned into helium and other elements. It lasts so long because it's ****ing enormous.
 
jack_spratt said:
Where does the oxygen come from to feed the fire of the sun? It must need massive amounts!
Why does the sun burn for so long? Surely the matter would have burnt up by now?

What exactly is the sun? Are we sure it is what they say it is?
Click to expand...

1. It's fusion, not a chemical reaction so there is no oxygen.
2. It's really really big and it's fusion. Basically the process that drives a thermonuclear weapon unlike a simple atom bomb which uses fission. The process creates a massive amount of energy by only converting small amounts of material. E=MC^2. E in electron volts. The sun has millions of years left. The waste products is helium and sinks a layer down.

3. It's mostly hydrogen gas. Then layered like an onion going inside. Helium, carbon and oxygen, all the way down the periodic table until you get to the iron core.
 
Moosedrool said:
1. It's fusion not a chemical reaction so there is no oxygen.
2. It's really really big and It's fusion. The process creates a massive amount of energy by only converting small amounts of material. E=MC^2. E in electron volts. The sun has millions of years left. The waste products is helium and sinks a layer down.

3. It's mostly hydrogen gas. Then layered like an onion going inside. Helium, carbon and oxygen, all the way down the periodic table until you get to the iron core.
Click to expand...
Yeah no on the core thing and the heavy elements sinking thing.
 
Sinbad said:
Yeah no on the core thing and the heavy elements sinking thing.
Click to expand...
Yeah the sun isn't a massive star but I'm convinced there should be iron deep in its core since any iron obtained during It's accretion process should've sunken down.

www.space.com

Sun's X-Rays Reveal New Twist

The sun is emitting less iron, as seen in X-rays, than the models predict. Astronomers now say they're a step closer to figuring out why.
www.space.com www.space.com

The sun is mostly made up of hydrogen and helium, but there is a small but mighty iron core at its center. The amount of iron will increase as the sun gets older, as scientists have observed in other stars in the universe.
Click to expand...
 
Moosedrool said:
Yeah the sun is a massive star but I'm convinced there should be iron deep in its core since any iron obtained during It's accretion process should've sunken down.
Click to expand...
Wrong tho. The convection currents are more than strong enough to keep it mixed up
 
Sinbad said:
Yeah no on the core thing and the heavy elements sinking thing.
Click to expand...

Yeah, the sun does have a core (where the pressure is really high), but it's definitely not made of iron.

Space Technology 5

Official home page for NASA's Space Technology 5 (ST5) mission. The project will validate methods of operating several satellites as a single system and test multiple technologies in the harsh space environment of Earth's magnetosphere.
www.jpl.nasa.gov
 
animal531 said:
Yeah, the sun does have a core (where the temp/pressure is really high), but it's definitely not made of iron.
Click to expand...

www.space.com

Sun's X-Rays Reveal New Twist

The sun is emitting less iron, as seen in X-rays, than the models predict. Astronomers now say they're a step closer to figuring out why.
www.space.com www.space.com

The sun is mostly made up of hydrogen and helium, but there is a small but mighty iron core at its center. The amount of iron will increase as the sun gets older, as scientists have observed in other stars in the universe.
Click to expand...

It has to have iron. Since iron stays iron so any material obtained since the sun isn't hot enough to fuse heavier materials should have layered like the big stars.
 
The sun does not make iron. Not hot enough.
 
Sinbad said:
The sun does not make iron. Not hot enough.
Click to expand...
Suns or stars make all the elements, but there is only a net output of energy up to iron, after that the fusion reactions use energy, and the sun is a plasma, which means that the nuclei and electrons are seperated.
 
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