Central Temperature of Sun

• What’s the “surface”?

  • Stars densest and hottest in the centers
    • This is why we see dark absorption lines in stellar spectra
  • Energy generated in the center, and flows outward
  • Light emitted blocked by material sitting on top
  • “Surface” = layer where star still dense enough to emit lots of light, but not so dense that light is blocked

• Sun’s surface Temp = 5800 K

• Sun’s central Temp = 1.5 x 107 K

  • All atoms are fully ionized, electrons stripped away

Notes: