ASTR 1102 Chapter 14: Chapter 14 (Got A+ on the test)
Document Summary
Is it on fire: no, we can determine the total energy radiated by the sun quite accurately because we know how much energy reaches the earth, it is very high, we know we have a certain amount of energy that we need to generate, how much material do we have to burn to sustain the rate at which the sun emits radiation (energy), energy, mass we need to consume to generate that energy. 0. 7%: sun is half way through its lifetime, central parts of the sun will run out of hydrogen, fuel that powers the sun, then something dramatic has to happen because the sun will lose its energy, sun will eventually become a red giant, sun is currently losing mass in the form of plasma, it will take 10 14 years for the sun to evaporate by its own mass, brightness of the sun will increase a few thousand times of what it is today.
