Life on Earth would not exist without the Sun. However, on the star itself for its formation in the usual sense, there are also absolutely no conditions. This is due to the extremely high temperature, which is definitely not suitable for protein organisms. But how hot is the Sun? This question does not have an unambiguous answer, because everything depends very much on where exactly the temperature is measured. According to NASA, you can get about 15,000,000 ° C in the core, but on the surface it is much cooler – about 5,500 ° C. That’s the difference.
Why is the sun so hot
The sun is made up of gas and plasma. 92% of the gas is hydrogen. If the star were smaller, it would still be a rather large, but very banal ball, reminiscent of Jupiter. Hydrogen is held in the solar core by extremely strong gravity, according to NASA. It creates so much pressure that when it collides with each other, its atoms create helium. This process is called nuclear fusion. It causes a continuous accumulation of energy, so the Sun systematically warms up up to those millions of degrees, which were already discussed earlier. After that, the energy breaks out, heating the surface of the star, as well as the objects surrounding it.
So hot when approaching the sun
According to the educational portal Study, there is a radiation zone outside the core of the Sun, the temperature in which ranges from 7,000,000 ° C in the near space to 2,000,000 ° C in the outer radius. According to Phys, there is no usual thermal convection here. Instead, heat is transferred through thermal radiation, causing the hydrogen and helium to emit photons that travel a short distance before being absorbed by other ions. Photons are too light, so it may take thousands of years for them to travel through this layer and reach the surface of the Sun. Actually, hence the big difference between the temperature in the core and on the surface.

Behind the radiation zone is the convection zone
According to the Study, the convection zone extends 200,000 kilometers after the radiation zone. The temperature here is about 200,000 °C. In this layer, the plasma moves like bubbles of boiling water, transferring heat to the surface of the Sun.
Temperature in the solar atmosphere
It is impossible to name a specific temperature in the solar atmosphere, because it is also divided into several levels. According to The Sun Today, the photosphere is about 5,500°C. Here, solar radiation is recorded as visible, and colder areas appear darker due to lower temperatures (3,000 to 4,500 °C). Above the photosphere is the chromosphere – here the temperature ranges from 4,000 to 6,000 ° C.

Next is the so-called corona – the outer layer of the solar atmosphere, which extends for many, many kilometers. It seems that the temperature here should be lower, but here it is ≈500 times hotter than in the photosphere – from 1,000,000 to 2,000,000 °C. Where do these numbers come from? This question has been baffling scientists for decades. There are ideas, but they still have to be confirmed.
Source: space.
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