Tag: Sun
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Where is the Sun on the H-R diagram?
In one of my earlier posts I described a Hertzsprung Russell diagram which shows the relationship between a stars temperature and its luminosity. But where does our Sun sit on this diagram? Our sun sits squarely in the main sequence line. The main sequence makes up the majority of a stars life when it is burning…
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The Solar Eclipse
Today, 20 March 2015, there was a solar eclipse in the very northern hemisphere. You could see between 85%-95% eclipse in mainland Britain but you would need to further north to the Faroe Islands or Svalbard to see a total eclipse. Here is Bristol I attempted to get some photos using a solar film cap…
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H-R Diagrams
I described stars in my last post and I talked about two that are different colours; Rigel and Betelgeuse in the constellation of Orion. Rigel is a blue super giant and Betelgeuse is a red super giant but what is the Sun, how do we classify stars as super giants and what other types of…
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What did the Sun ever do for us?
The Sun. That great big ball of fire in the sky. But what did it ever do for us? At the simplest level the Sun gives us light and warmth. As humans this is what we need to survive. It provides us with day and night as it lights up the day side of the…
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Five facts about the Sun
Here are five surprising facts about our Sun. As they are facts they are all true. 1) The Sun makes up 99% of the mass of our solar system. Yes, that’s right 99%. If you added all the other planets and moons, comets and asteroids together you would make up the other 1%. The Sun’s…