ASTR 1200 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Planetary System, Earth Mass, Immanuel Kant
9 Sep 2015
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6. 1 a brief tour of the solar system. Each planet orbits the sun in the same direction, on the same plane. In relation to the space between them, the planets themselves are tiny. The sun: radius: 696,000 km (108 earth, mass: 333,000earth, composition: 98% hydrogen and helium, 2% other elements. The largest and most luminous object in the solar system, the sun comprises 98% of the matter in the solar system. Its surface is a sea of boiling hydrogen and helium, which reaches 5800 k, and the temperature rises as you reach its core. The sun provides energy through hydrogen fusion, converting hydrogen into helium and creating light. It is the greatest source of light in the solar system; the moons and planets only reflect the sun"s light. The solar wind (charged particles escaping sun) creates magnetic fields and shape planetary atmospheres. The sun sheds 4 million tons of its mass every second during fusion.
