Frequently Asked Questions About the Sun

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Myths and History

• Why doesn't the Sun shine in the night time, when we really need it?
• Who discovered that the Sun was a star?
• Does the Judeo-Christian Concept of Creation Conflict with The Big Bang?

The Gravitational Sun

• How did they compute the SOHO orbit location (L1)?
• What is the Sun and the Moon's relationship to the Earth tides?
• What is the speed of the Solar System?
• When is Earth closest and furthest from the Sun?
• What pattern on my film would I see if I expose it to the Sun at noon everyday for a year?

The Magnetic Sun

• Why don't Alfven waves dissipate as readily as slow mode waves?
• Can one predict sunspot numbers?
• How many sunspots are there on the sun? (and how big are they?)
• How do sunspots form?
• How did water get on the Sun?
• How does an electromagnetic field affect the the surface of the Sun?
• What is the structure of the magnetic field in the convection zone?
• How are solar flares formed?
• Why do solar flares increase every 11 years?
• Will the Earth be wiped out by a solar flare?
• Explain the coronal heating problem, please.

Solar Evolution

• What are some solar system formation theories?
• How old is the Sun?
• How hot is the Sun?
• What is the Sun made of?
• What is the composition of the solar wind?
• How does fusion provide solar energy?
• What is the temperature and the pressure necessary for hydrogen to fuse to helium?
• Is it possible to control nuclear fusion?
• What is the state of the neutrino problem?
• Is the Sun shrinking?
• Tell me about the lifetime of the Sun, please.
• Does the location of the Earth's orbit change when the Sun evolves into a Red Giant?

Solar Physics Careers

• Why did you pick solar physics as a job?
• I want to be a solar physicist. Do you have any advice?

General Astronomy

• Getting Started in Amateur astronomy
• Bad Astronomy (and how to avoid it)
• Misconceptions in K-6 Textbooks

Other

• Tell me about your logo.
• I don't understand sounds on the Sun.
• What are solar waves?
• What are the approximate temperatures and depths of x-ray, visible, magnetograms, and H-alpha images?
• Why does the sun appear orange?
• What are significant features of the photosphere?
• What would happen if we transplanted some Sun-matter to the middle of San Francisco?
• If I am in Sydney, can the sun ever rise to the south of east?
• What are Web sources for flux density for the Sun at specific radiomagnetic frequencies?
• How are absorption lines measured in the Sun's photosphere different from absorption lines measured in an Earth laboratory?

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Frequently Asked Questions at other sites:

• All Solar FAQs:
  • The Sun FAQs (The Astronomy Cafe)
  • Mr. Sunspot's FAQs

• Some Solar FAQs:
  • Ask an Astronomer (Lick Observatory)
  • Bite-Sized Astronomy (Phil Plait)
  • Search the Bad and Bitesized Astronomy Site (Phil Plait)
  • Astronomy/Cosmology Q's and A's (LPL)
  • Exploration of the Earth's Magnetosphere
  • Ask a NASA Scientist: Archive of Past Questions.

• An astronomy interactive forum:
  • Astronomy Discussion Board Question and Answer.

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Ask your own question

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Back to the SOLAR Center	Comments?

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Last Modified by DKS on 20 Aug 1998.