The Sun

1076 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Stars formation and existence

A star is an orb made up of hydrogen and helium. Stars are formed when a gravitational disturbance, such as galaxies colliding or a supernova explosion, causes molecular gas clouds to collapse. The concentration of gases generates heat and momentum from particle movement in the cloud produces a spinning effect. After approximately one hundred million years, core temperature and pressure reach levels that are sufficient to ignite nuclear fusion, which is what defines a star. A star’s properties are determined by its mass. Red dwarf stars, the least massive, use small amounts of energy over a very long period of time and scientists estimate that they can live for ten trillion years. The most massive stars, Supergiants, may live only a few million years. Most stars, including the Sun, are in the main sequence phase of their existence (Cain, 2009).
The Sun is Earth’s star and without its energy life on Earth would not exist. Like all stars, the Sun is a ball of gas made up of approximately ninety-two percent hydrogen and eight percent helium held together by the star’s own gravity. The Sun has a core temperature of about twenty-seven million degrees Fahrenheit. Spacecraft are used to collect information about the Sun, like Genesis which retrieved particles of solar wind and returned them to Earth for study (Overview, n.d.).
Physical properties of the Sun, and other space objects such as planets and galaxies, are determined using scientific and physical laws to study electromagnetic radiation. An object’s mass is determined by investigating its gravitational impact on other objects in space using Newton’s laws of motion and gravity. Diameter is determined by measuring angular size and using geometry to find t...

... middle of paper ...

...Ra was the Sun god of ancient Egyptians. Helios, the Sun god of the Greeks, was similar to Ra. The early Persian cult of Mirtha honored the rising Sun every day. Sun worship has also been noted in texts of Babylonian and Asian religious cults. In North America, Great Plains Native Americans believed the Sun to be a manifestation of the Great Spirit. For centuries, the Sun Dance has been performed by young warriors to honor the Sun. The dance lasts several days and involves, under the supervision of a shaman, prayer and the ceremonial chopping down of a tree that was painted and propped up at the dancing ground. Offerings were also made to the Great Spirit. The Sun dance was also a trial for the young, inexperience warriors. The Sun dance is a ritual in Native American culture today as is the honoring of Ra as the Sun god in Egyptian cults (Wigington, n.d.).

Show More
Related

  • Star Betelgeuse Lifecycle

    770 Words  | 2 Pages

    When itBetelgeuse cannot fuse anymore anything over iron, the star will not have enough energy to make heat. Eventually, the core will collapse. When Betelgeuse collapses, it is so strong and powerful that it causes the outer layers to rebound. With the rebound it will have an explosion, which is called a Supernova (Type two). The explosion has so much energy and power that the temperature becomes really hot. The temperature is so hot that it can use the fusion process much heavier than iron. The elements that were given off from the explosion are sent throughout space and are now new nebula. When the Supernova is done, it has left behind a star called a Neutron star. They form when atoms of the core of a dead star are crushed together and the end result produces neutrons. The neutrons are with electrons that are degenerate on the surface. Many Neutron stars have magnetic fields and they give off strong waves of radiation from their poles. These types of Neutron Stars are known as Pulsars.

    Read More

  • The SOHO Project

    681 Words  | 2 Pages

    The sensitive instruments aboard the SOHO spacecraft have already helped scientists here on Earth discover and explain some of the mysteries of the Sun as well as to confirm some of their theories they previously held. For example, in May of 1998 with the help of the Michelson Doppler Interferometer scientists were able to see with greater clarity the giant convective cells inside and on the surface of the Sun.

    Read More

  • Mythology Research of Egyptian God Amun-Re

    929 Words  | 2 Pages

    First, is the discussion of the origin of Amun-Re. “Re, is an ancient Egyptian solar deity (also spelled “Ra”). Re’s association with the sun meant that he was understood to be an important force in the creation of the world, and Re’s daily movement (from sunrise to sunset) was an embodiment of the cosmic order.” (Andrea, Pg. 313). Re was known as the sun god and was thought to have been combined with another god known as Amon, a fertility god who was worshiped in Thebes. Combining these two gods created the god Amun-Re as known today. Amun-Re was mainly worshiped in the Egyptian city Heliopolis, where historians have studied a huge following.

    Read More

  • Brown Dwarfs

    523 Words  | 2 Pages

    Brown dwarfs are objects in space that sit between the lines of being a star and a planet. This object is dim and hard to distinguish from low mass stars at the early stages of the dwarf’s life. They are often called failed stars because they start their life the same way as regular stars. However, in some stage, they just didn’t have enough mass gathered to generate the fusion-powered energy of a star. Scientists are certain that brown dwarfs are the missing link between stars and planets but the formations of dwarfs are still a mystery.

    Read More

  • Native American Ritual Dancing

    3050 Words  | 7 Pages

    “The Sun Dance was the most spectacular and important religious ceremony of the Plains Indians of 19th-century North America” (Lawrence 1). The Sun Dance became a time of renewal and thanksgiving for Native Americans. Everyone had a role to play either in the preparation leading up to the dance, or within the dance itself. The entire tribe was expected to attend the ceremony. There were also some social aspects to the dance, such as powwow dancing in the afternoon and evening.

    Read More

  • Burnt by the Sun

    2738 Words  | 6 Pages

    Nikita Mikhalkov's Burnt by the Sun was released in 1994, a year in which over seven decades of communism were undoubtedly still a vivid memory in the eyes of the Russian people. The transition from dictatorship to democracy left them with no choice but to try and disregard their past in order to better accept the many changes that the future would bring. In Burnt by the Sun, however, the director focuses on the characters' human emotions rather than condemn their ideology or their motivations. He thus brings us close to these individuals who are clutching the remnants of the ideals they originally fought for, and who, with the return of an old friend, are suddenly forced to simultaneously confront their future and search through their past. Throughout the whole movie this is the main theme the viewer is given to reflect on: the clash between the sweet, safe, nostalgic past and the forthcoming of a bitter, dangerous, uncertain future. This theme is particularly alive in the sequence 'Arrival of Summer Santa'. By analyzing the opening segment of this sequence, we realize that it is the editing which renders the conflict so palpable. From one cut to the next, we learn Nadia and Mitia's implicit memories and desires; during their conversation, the cutting alone makes us realize what will happen; near the end of the sequence, one simple cut says more than a minute-long scene ever could have done. Thanks to the editing, we become involved with the characters, and grow fully aware of the symbolic opposition between Nadia and Mitia, between past and future.

    Read More

  • Black Holes

    1782 Words  | 4 Pages

    The American scientist John Wheeler coined the phrase “black hole” in 1969 to describe a massively compact star with such a strong gravitational field that light cannot escape. When a star’s central reserve of hydrogen is depleted, the star begins to die. Gravity causes the center to contract to higher and higher temperatures, while the outer regions swell up, and the star becomes a red giant. The star then evolves into a white dwarf, where most of its matter is compressed into a sphere roughly the size of Earth. Some stars continue to evolve, and their centers contract to even higher densities and temperatures until their nuclear reserves are exhausted and only their gravitational energy remain. The core then rushes inward while the mantle explodes outward, creating neutron stars in the form of rapidly rotating pulsars. Imploding stars overwhelmed by gravity form black holes, where the core hits infinite density and becomes a singularity (some estimate it at 10^94 times the density of water).

    Read More

  • What Astronomy Really Is

    3723 Words  | 8 Pages

    The Sun is a huge, bright sphere that is mostly made up of gas that is about 5 billion years old. The Sun is the closest to the Earth, it is 145 million km distant (this distance is called an Astronomical Unit). The next closest star is 300,000 times further away. There are probably millions of similar stars in the Milky Way galaxy (and even more galaxies in the Universe), but the Sun is the most important to us because it supports life on Earth.

    Read More

  • Plains Indians

    1750 Words  | 4 Pages

    For many tribes of Plains Indians whose bison-hunting culture flourished during the 18th and 19th centuries, the sun dance was the major communal religious ceremony . . . the rite celebrates renewal - the spiritual rebirth of participants and their relatives as well as the regeneration of the living earth with all its components . . . The ritual, involving sacrifice and supplication to insure harmony between all living beings, continues to be practiced by many contemporary native Americans. -Elizabeth Atwood LawrenceAs the most important ritual of the nomadic Plains Indians, the Sun Dance in itself presents many ideas, beliefs, and values of these cultures. Through its rich symbolism and complicated rituals we are able to catch a glimpse into these peoples' view of the world. A Sun Dance is held when a man feels the need to be a dancer to fulfill certain wishes, primarily "for his deliverance from his troubles, for supernatural aid, and for beneficent blessings upon all of his people." (Welker) It is this dancer who usually bears the expenses of the Sun Dance (Atwood), including a feast for all that comes to the celebration. (Welker) Motivations behind the Sun Dance varies slightly between tribes. The Crow held the ceremony to seek aid for revenge for family members killed in warfare. The entire event surrounding the Sun Dance generally lasts from four to seven days, though longer events exist. On the first day a tree is selected to serve as the sun-pole, the center pole for the Sun Dance Lodge, or New-Life-Lodge, as called by the Cheyenne. (Atwood) The selection of the tree is usually done by the eldest woman of the camp, who leads a group of elaborately dressed maidens to the tree to strip off its branches. On the next morning, right as the sun is seen over the eastern horizon, armed warriors charge the sun-pole. They attack the tree in effort to symbolically kill it with gunshots and arrows. Once it is dead it is cut down and taken to where the Sun Dance Lodge will be erected. (Schwatka) "Before raising the sun-pole, a fresh buffalo head with a broad centre strip of the back of the hide and tail (is) fastened with strong throngs to the top crotch of the sun-pole. Then the pole (is) raised and set firmly in the ground, with the buffalo head facing ! toward the setting-sun." (Welker) The tree represents the center of the world, connect...

    Read More

  • The Beast Within

    629 Words  | 2 Pages

    In ages past it was known as Ra, god of the sun, then it was known as

    Read More

  • Cosmic Life and Death of a Star

    1612 Words  | 4 Pages

    If the nebula is dense enough, certain regions of it will begin to gravitationally collapse after being disturbed. As it collapses the particles begin to move more rapidly, which on a molecular level is actually heat, and photons are emitted that drive off the remaining dust and gas. Once the cloud has collapsed enough to cause the core temperature to reach ten-million degrees Celsius, nuclear fusion starts in its core and this ball of gas and dust is now a star. It begins its life as a main sequence star and little does it know its entire life has already been predetermined.

    Read More

  • Sunspots

    1093 Words  | 3 Pages

    Nehru, K.V.K. Glimpses Into the Structure of the Sun—Part 1 The Nature of Stellar Matter. March 22, 2001. .

    Read More

  • Stellar Evolution

    2295 Words  | 5 Pages

    A star begins as nothing more than a very light distribution of interstellar gases and dust particles over a distance of a few dozen lightyears. Although there is extremely low pressure existing between stars, this distribution of gas exists instead of a true vacuum. If the density of gas becomes larger than .1 particles per cubic centimeter, the interstellar gas grows unstable. Any small deviation in density, and because it is impossible to have a perfectly even distribution in these clouds this is something that will naturally occur, and the area begins to contract. This happens because between about .1 and 1 particles per cubic centimeter, pressure gains an inverse relationship with density. This causes internal pressure to decrease with increasing density, which because of the higher external pressure, causes the density to continue to increase. This causes the gas in the interstellar medium to spontaneously collect into denser clouds. The denser clouds will contain molecular hydrogen (H2) and interstellar dust particles including carbon compounds, silicates, and small impure ice crystals. Also, within these clouds, there are 2 types of zones. There are H I zones, which contain neutral hydrogen and often have a temperature around 100 Kelvin (K), and there are H II zones, which contain ionized hydrogen and have a temperature around 10,000 K. The ionized hydrogen absorbs ultraviolet light from it’s environment and retransmits it as visible and infrared light. These clouds, visible to the human eye, have been named nebulae. The density in these nebulae is usually about 10 atoms per cubic centimeter. In brighter nebulae, there exists densities of up to several thousand atoms per cubic centimete...

    Read More

  • Astronomy in Science Fiction

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    Whenever we watch movies about space, the movie tends to influence our perspective of what is out there in space and how things work. Because of people’s lack of knowledge, it is easy for them to accept what the movies or pictures present to them. Therefore, there are many misconceptions in astronomy of how things really work out in the universe. In Neil Comens’ book, Heavenly Errors, he pinpoints over 1600 misconceptions! For example, many people have several different theories of how the moon changes shape every night or why the stars twinkle in the night time sky.

    Read More

  • The Moon

    634 Words  | 2 Pages

    The moon is the only natural satellite of Earth. The moon orbits the Earth from 384,400 km and has an average speed of 3700 km per hour. It has a diameter of 3476 km, which is about ¼ that of the Earth and has a mass of 7.35e22 kg. The moon is the second brightest object in the sky after the sun.

    Read More

More about The Sun

Open Document