Page:Illustrated Astronomy.pdf/28

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been validated.

The light produced at the core interacts with charged particles, such as electrons. In every interaction, the light changes its travel direction.

RADIATIVE ZONE

The radiative zone is the second layer, where the energy produced in the core travels to almost 70 % of the Sun size, which means, between 200,000 and 500,000 km through the physics process of radiation. In this region, the temperature decreases dramatically, from 7 million degrees to 2 million degrees when it hits the transition zone called Tachocline, to then move to the third layer.

It is believed that in this transition layer is where the Sun rotation changes from a rigid rotation, such an “iron” sphere, to rotate differentially. Like when we shake a ball with liquid in, and we observe the ball spin faster than the liquid inside. Apparently, this would produce the magnetic field of the Sun.

The interactions occur so often that the light energy takes thousands of years to escape from the Sun.

28 • • •