Computer Activity: The Sun
Part 1
Go to the website: http://www.windows2universe.org/sun/sun.html
Click on “Advanced” at the top of the page
1. Where is our Sun located in our solar system?
Click on “Interior” from the list on the left
2. a. Name the inner most layer of the sun.
b. What occurs in this layer?
Click on “Surface of the Sun” in the text
3. What is the name of the ‘surface of the sun’?
4. What form of the Sun’s energy do we receive here on Earth from the Sun’s surface?
5. How hot is the surface of the sun in degrees Kelvin?
Click on “Sun Spots” from the list on the left
6. What are sunspots?
7. Why are sunspots darker in color that the rest of the Sun?
8. How long do sunspots last?
9. What is the current sunspot cycle?
Click on “Movie: Journey beneath a Sun Spot” under Related Links
10. What are the silvery white tubes shown in the video representing?
Click on “Radiation” from the list on the left
11. List the two basic types of radiation.
Click on “Electromagnetic Spectrum” from the text
12. List the eight forms of Electromagnetic Radiation.
13. The Electromagnetic Spectrum diagram is put together by comparing what two things?
Click on the back arrow
Click on “Eclipses” from the list on the left
14. Diagram and label the positions of the Sun, Earth, and Moon during a Solar Eclipse.
15. When does a Total Solar Eclipse occur during the Moon’s phase cycle?
Click on “Recent and Future Eclipses” under Related Links
16. What is the date of the next Eclipse that will be able to be seen from the Western United States?
Click on “Fate” from the list on the left
17. How much longer does the Sun have to live?
18. What is the next stage in our Sun’s life cycle?
19. After this stage, what will form when the Sun sheds its atmosphere?
Click on the image to watch the animation
20. The next stage of the Sun’s life cycle will turn it into a ___________________________.
Part 2
Go to the website: http://aspire.cosmic-ray.org/Labs/StarLife/hr_diagram.html
21. What is the HR diagram a representation of?
22. What two categories are used to plot the stars on the HR diagram?
23. What is Luminosity?
24. Where are the higher temperatures located on the X-axis (horizontal axis)?
25. Reading the diagram:
a. A star in the upper left corner would be: __________________________________
b. A star in the upper right corner would be: _________________________________
c. A star in the lower left corner would be: __________________________________
d. A star in the lower right corner would be: _________________________________
26. Where is our star, the Sun, located in the HR diagram?
Go to the website: http://aspire.cosmic-ray.org/Labs/StarLife/hr_diagram.html
Scroll down to the section called “Interactive Lab”
Read the overview written!!!!
Click on the picture to play the animation
27. While playing the animation, list ALL eight steps of the lifecycle of a star such as our Sun.