Quiz 4

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How long does it take for photons to get to Earth from a solar flare eruption?

8 minutes
In a solar prominence or filament, what lifts the gas into an arch above the photosphere?

The Sun's magnetic field
How many times stronger than Earth's is the magnetic field of a sunspot?

5000 x
What property of the Sun do we learn by measuring Zeeman's effect on the Sun's spectral lines?

Plasma
What is the rotation period of the Sun near the Equator? At 75^o latitude?

25 days; 33 days
What is the temperature of a sunspot umbra? Is it hotter or cooler than the Photosphere?

4300 K; cooler
What is the length (in years) of the average ncycle in the number of sunspots?

11 years
What do we call the minor amount of the Sun's gases that escape outward into space?

Solar Wind
Which of the Sun's three atmospheric layers is the coolest? The densest?

Chromosphere; Photosphere
What is the approximate temperature of the solar corona? What heats it to this temperature?

1 million K; heated by energy carried aloft and released by the Sun's magnetic fields
In the bright center of a granule, which way is the gas moving?

upward, by convection
How long does a convective granule on the photosphere last?

several minutes
What is the photosphere and how thick is it? What percentage of the Sun's total radius is this?

A thin layer of gas on the surface of the Sun; 0.01% as thick as the air
What is the formal definition of a planet?
- A celestial body that is:
- 1. In orbit around the sun
- 2. Has sufficent mass for its self-gravity to pull itself into a nearly spheical shape
- 3. has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit
What is a dwarf planet?
- 1. In orbit around the sun
- 2. does not have enough gravity to clear is orbital neighborhood of debris
All objects in the solar system that are not planets, dwarf planets, or moons

small solar bodies (SSBs)

Author

bheight1

10568

Card Set

Quiz 4

Description

Astronomy- Georgia State

Updated

2010-03-15T07:38:49Z

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