The Sun: Crash Course Astronomy #10

Share it with your friends Like

Thanks! Share it with your friends!

Close

Phil takes us for a closer (eye safe!) look at the two-octillion ton star that rules our solar system. We look at the sun’s core, plasma, magnetic fields, sunspots, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and what all of that means for our planet.

This episode is sponsored by Squarespace: http://www.squarespace.com/crashcourse

The Sun is a Star 1:28
Plasma’s Magnetic Fields 6:11
Sunspots, Solar Flares, and Coronal Mass Ejections 7:09
How the Earth Reacts 9:18

PBS Digital Studios: http://youtube.com/pbsdigitalstudios

Follow Phil on Twitter: https://twitter.com/badastronomer

Want to find Crash Course elsewhere on the internet?
Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/YouTubeCrashCourse
Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/TheCrashCourse
Tumblr – http://thecrashcourse.tumblr.com
Support CrashCourse on Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/crashcourse

PHOTO/VIDEO CREDITS
Hubble extrasolar planet search field in Sagittarius: http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/heic0612d/ [credit: NASA, ESA, K. Sahu (STScI) and the SWEEPS science team]
The Sun: http://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/images/499558main_hmi4096.jpg [credit: SDO/HMI]
The Sun: http://d1jqu7g1y74ds1.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/SDO_4096_0171.jpg [credit: NASA/SDO/AIA]
Earth: http://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/earth-from-space-15-amazing-things-in-15-years/#.VMvNXmTF_Z0 [credit: NASA’s Earth Observatory]
Fusion in the Sun: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:FusionintheSun.svg [credit: Borb]
Empire State Building: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_State_Building#mediaviewer/File:Empire_State_Building_from_the_Top_of_the_Rock.jpg
Sun Structure: https://www.flickr.com/photos/11304375@N07/2819311727/
Photospheric granulation: http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/images/granules.jpg
Corona: http://philhart.smugmug.com/Sun/Queensland-Solar-Eclipse/i-qjqMzzK [credit: Phil Hart]
“Magnet0873” by Newton Henry Black – Newton Henry Black, Harvey N. Davis (1913) Practical Physics, The MacMillan Co., USA, p. 242, fig. 200. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons – http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Magnet0873.png#mediaviewer/File:Magnet0873.png
Strange Days On The Sun: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/details.cgi?aid=11682 [credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Images courtesy of NASA/SDO]
Under the Sunspots: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/details.cgi?aid=20070 [credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab]
Raining Loops: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/vis/a010000/a011100/a011168/Raining_Loops_Still_2.jpg [credit: NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center/SDO]
Coronal Mass Ejection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_xYcMQe5KA [credit: NASA]
Aurora: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-BicSV9RAw
Soloar Close-ups: http://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/details.cgi?aid=4061 [credit: NASA]

Comments

Bhrigu Naidu says:

this is awesome ,u guys doin an awesome job.thankx a lot,very nice explanation.thanks again

Waldemar Gałęzinowski says:

Why the pressure at the CORE of the sun is compared to pressure at the Earth's ATMOSPHERE???

Por La Paz says:

Faculae! My new favorie word to say.

Roberto Gallardo says:

Great job Phil. Congratulations to you and your team. Thanks for making astronomy this interesting.

Kahandran says:

Where does a two octillion ton gorilla go to the bathroom?
Answer: Wherever it pleases.

Evolvedgaming says:

Why don't NASA start a Wether Channel for Solar Winds?
C'mon they could tell the world "turn off your power grids cause a big cme is coming are way in 8 minutes

Scarlett Love says:

WAAA I WAS ALIVE IN 2012! that's actually when the world was thought to end!

Scarlett Love says:

Hi, my name is Scarlett. I don't wanna tell my full name, so don't ask! I live in London, England. I have eighteen friends. I'm twelve years old. I will not tell my address because u will probably murder me! I play Minecraft MCPE and MCPC. My best friends name is RosieBon. We have YouTube Channels. We love math. 12/3=4

David Grider says:

I got an old safe off Craigslist for a few hundred dollars. I've converted it into a faraday cage on the cheap. Inside I've got CD player. When the grid goes down I may not have TV or the Internet but I will have my tunes even if I have to use a hand crank generator for electricity. Of course I keep all my computer backups in there with an old laptop just in case all my other stuff gets fried. If you are really worried about this then maybe my solution is something to consider.

Mike Guy says:

This is false – the sun is a large solid iron ball! The energy escaping the gravity of the sun is the energy we see today – this is not fusion – this is decay – the decay chain of the sun is the source of radiant energy leaving the sun – this is why the corona is so much hotter than the surface – as the matter moves away from the sun, it is able to increase its time – and as it increases its time it also increases its energy and speed, so as matter moves away from the sun it gets hotter and hotter and thinner and thinner until all that is left is light itself

7/11/24/7 Einstein says:

But Michael Jackson's wig was still there even then

Haggart inc. says:

the sun is a ball of plasma…. not gas, two completely different forms of matter. for those who don't know what plasma is, it is gas heated to the point where its electrons get stripped from the nucleus. just think about it this way. Heat up a solid, it melts and becomes a liquid, heat up a liquid it boils and becomes a gas. Heat up a gas enough and it IONIZES into plasma (ie. the electrons being stripped from the atom core).

DTHUGisdashit says:

why is he saying kilometers like that

Vangie Koo says:

Really cute introduction

Write a comment