What is produced by the nuclear reactions within the Sun?
The type of nuclear reaction taking place in the core of the Sun is known as nuclear fusion and involves hydrogen nuclei combining together to form helium.
How do we know nuclear reactions are still taking place in the Sun?
Unlike light, neutrinos can pass through the Sun untouched (in fact, they can pass through pretty much anything untouched). Therefore, observations of neutrinos from the direction of the Sun show that the Sun is undergoing nuclear fusion reactions right up until the present day.
How long does it take for energy produced in the Sun’s core to reach the photosphere?
But it can take 100,000 years from the core of the Sun to get to the surface — where it bursts out and flies at the speed of light. What’s going on? Well, the density of the core is incredibly high — 150 times greater than water.
How does the Sun generate energy today?
The sun generates energy in its core in a process called nuclear fusion. During nuclear fusion, the sun’s extremely high pressure and hot temperature cause hydrogen atoms to come apart and their nuclei (the central cores of the atoms) to fuse or combine. Four hydrogen nuclei fuse to become one helium atom.
What would happen if nuclear reactions in the sun stopped?
Since certain fraction mass that was being converted to energy due to these nuclear reactions, stopping the reactions would reduce the rate of loss and mass and therefore mass will be become constant.
Why does it take so long for energy produced in the core of the Sun to be released?
This layer takes up 60 percent of the radius of the Sun. It takes a million years for energy to get through this layer into the “convective layer”, because the photons are constantly intercepted, absorbed and re-emitted. In the core, the helium nuclei make up 62% of the mass (the rest is still hydrogen).