Astronomy Assignment: Solar Observation and Stellar Classification

This astronomy assignment delves into two primary areas: solar observations and stellar classification. The assignment begins with an analysis of the sun, including its layers (photosphere, chromosphere, and corona) and the technologies used to observe it, such as the Reuven Ramat and the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph. It then transitions to stellar classification, describing how stars are categorized by temperature and spectral type, with a focus on the G-type star, which includes our sun. The assignment also touches on the evolution of stars, predicting the sun's future transformation into a red giant and eventually a white dwarf. References to scientific papers are provided to support the information presented.

Running head: ASTRONOMY
ASTRONOMY
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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Answer 1:
All though the sun appears to be yellow in colour to the bare eyes, there are multiple
layer which have different wavelengths which are beyond the range of visibility. NASA has
developed the most powerful Solar Observatory which is capable of identifying every details of
the ever changing sun. The white light is capable of detecting the Coronal mass ejection when
the disc of the sun is studied in the coronagraph. The devices that are used for viewing the sun
includes, the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscope Imager, and the Interface Region
Imaging Spectrograph (Lodders 2019).
There are 3 layers of sun, they are the Core, Radiation Zone and the Convection Zone.
The suns’ atmosphere is known and the photosphere, beyond this the chromosphere and lastly it
is the Crown, which is Corona.
Features of each atmospheric layer of sun:
 Photosphere:
 This is the closest layer to the sun and is around 500 km thick.
 The solar energy is released as the light energy in this layer which
illuminates the planets around.
 The surface of this layer is marker by the granules of plasma, which are
bright in color and cold dark sunspots which is due to the magnetic field of
the sun.
 The solar flares are sourced here as well, which can extend up to miles.
These are made of X rays and UV radiation, electromagnetic radiation and
radio-waves.

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 Chromosphere:
 This emits red glow due the burring of the hydrogen layers. This can be
observed during the solar eclipse as it is much lighter than the glow of the
photosphere (Jafarzadeh 2019).
 It transfer the heat from the inner part of the sun to the outermost layer
Corona
 Corona:
 This is the hottest layer of the earth’s atmosphere. (3.5 million Fahrenheit)
 They can display distinguished flares
 The shape of the corona changes with the Sunspot Cycle (Cranmer and
Winebarger 2019).
Answer 2:
The Stars are distinguished according to their temperature and the spectra or the elements
they absorbs. Stars are hot balls of gases. From the hottest to the coolest they can be
distinguished into: O, B, A, F, G, K, and M. All these classes have several other subclasses and
the Sun is the G2 star.
The G type stars are generally yellow in colour. The Sun is a G star. Once the hydrogen
in the sun runs off, it will be bright red gigantic sun. After it explodes, into a nova, it will become
millions of tiny dwarf stars, which will be white in colour. It is mainly the colour of the emission
from the stars which helps in determining which one is what.

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Figure 1: Spectral type
Source: Google Image

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References:
Cranmer, S.R. and Winebarger, A.R., 2019. The properties of the solar corona and its connection
to the solar wind. Annual Review of Astronomy and Astrophysics, 57, pp.157-187.
Jafarzadeh, S., 2019. Solar Chromosphere. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Physics.
Lodders, K., 2019. The Chemical Composition of the Solar System. In Nuclei in the Cosmos
XV (pp. 165-170). Springer, Cham.