Science
What is the Sun? Powers of Ten™: The famous video from 1977 that explains the scale of the universe (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fKBhvDjuy0) The Sun (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun) Formation of the Sun (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun#Formation) The Sun is about 4.6 billion years old: Facts about the Sun’s age, size & history (Space.com) (https://www.space.com/58-the-sun-formation-facts-and-characteristics.html) How is a star born? (Scientific American) (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-is-a-star-born/) How does a star ignite? (Physics Stack Exchange) (https://physics.stackexchange.com/questions/61108/how-does-a-star-ignite) Cosmic dust (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmic_dust) All you need is cold gas: The legacy of K. E. Edgeworth (NED) (https://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/Sept14/Elmegreen/Elmegreen6.html) Stars form out in the cold & fuel the growth of supermassive black holes (SMH) (http://www.smh.com.au/technology/sci-tech/stars-form-out-in-the-cold-and-fuel-the-growth-of-supermassive-black-holes-20170213-guc8b6.html) Newton's laws (Hyperphysics) (http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Newt.html) Animation of Jupiter seen in the infrared (NASA/JPL Caltech) (https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/archive/PIA19640.gif) What is fusion (livescience) (https://www.livescience.com/23394-fusion.html) Nuclear fusion (Hyperphysics) (http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/NucEne/fusion.html) Nuclear fusion in stars (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_fusion#Nuclear_fusion_in_stars) After 60 years, is nuclear fusion finally poised to deliver? (The Guardian) (https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/dec/02/after-60-years-is-nuclear-fusion-finally-poised-to-deliver) Chain reaction (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chain_reaction) Diana Ross: Chain Reaction (YouTube) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaYHRx9-v2M) The Sun's structure & energy production (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun#Structure_and_energy_production) National Ignition Facility recreates the interior of heavy stars (ars Technica) (https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/08/researchers-use-giant-laser-to-study-interiors-of-stars/) Naming conventions for our Sun or 'Sol' (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun#Name_and_etymology) Parker Solar Probe: Humanity’s first visit to a star (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/parker-solar-probe-humanity-s-first-visit-to-a-star) Sunshine (IMDb) (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448134/) It sounds like stars do all seem to start with hydrogen: Star formation (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star#Formation_and_evolution) Stars (NASA) (https://science.nasa.gov/astrophysics/focus-areas/how-do-stars-form-and-evolve) Main sequence stars (CSIRO) (http://www.atnf.csiro.au/outreach/education/senior/astrophysics/stellarevolution_mainsequence.html) Post-main sequence stars (CSIRO) (http://www.atnf.csiro.au/outreach/education/senior/astrophysics/stellarevolution_postmain.html) There is a minimum mass for stars: ~8% of the mass of the Sun, lower than that & the internal pressure from gravity is too low to trigger the necessary nuclear reactions (NASA) (https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/review/podcasts/transcripts/070205_star_sizes.html) The Sun consumes about 600 million tonnes of hydrogen per second (NASA) (https://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/qa_sun.html#consume) The future of the Sun: After core hydrogen exhaustion (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun#After_core_hydrogen_exhaustion) Helium 'burning' & the helium flash: In post-main sequence stars, helium nuclei fuse to eventually form carbon-12 (CSIRO) (http://www.atnf.csiro.au/outreach/education/senior/astrophysics/stellarevolution_postmain.html#postmainheflash) Modelling a star on a computer (Western Michigan University) (http://homepages.wmich.edu/~korista/starmodls.html) The CNO cycle (Cosmos) (http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/C/CNO+cycle) Will the sun go supernova in six years & destroy Earth? (Ask an Astronomer) (http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/physics/39-our-solar-system/the-earth/other-catastrophes/59-will-the-sun-go-supernova-in-six-years-and-destroy-earth-as-seen-on-yahoo-intermediate) Iron & nickel are the heaviest elements that can be made in stars like our Sun that don't undergo supernova explosions (NASA) (https://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/nucleo.html) Red giant stars (Cosmos) (http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/R/Red+giant+stars) Cold dead star may be a giant diamond (Space.com) (https://www.space.com/26335-coldest-white-dwarf-star-diamond.html) Measuring a white dwarf star (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_468.html) The electromagnetic spectrum (NASA) (https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/science/toolbox/emspectrum1.html) What is Earth's magnetic field? (Universe Today) (https://www.universetoday.com/27005/earths-magnetic-field/) The 11-year cycle of solar minimums & maximums (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/news/solarmin-max.html) The sun is so hot it's mostly made of plasma (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/themis/auroras/sun_earth_connect.html) Convection zone (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convection_zone) Structure of stars showing convection zones (ESO) (http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0729a/) Understanding the magnetic sun (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2016/understanding-the-magnetic-sun) The singing sun: Listen to the sound the sun makes! (Stanford Solar Center) (http://solar-center.stanford.edu/singing/singing.html) The corona of the Sun, it's outer atmosphere (NASA) (https://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/corona.shtml) Why is the Sun's corona the hottest layer when it's farther from the core than other layers? (Scientific American) (https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-is-the-suns-corona-th/) What are sun spots? (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunspot) Coronal mass ejection (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronal_mass_ejection) What is solar wind? (QRG, Northwestern University) (http://www.qrg.northwestern.edu/projects/vss/docs/space-environment/3-what-is-solar-wind.html) No more solar wind for Voyager 1 spacecraft (Phys.org) (https://phys.org/news/2010-12-solar-voyager-spacecraft.html) The Voyagers have reached an anniversary worth celebrating (ars Technica) (https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/08/the-voyagers-have-reached-an-anniversary-worth-celebrating/) What is an aurora? (NASA) (https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/aurora/en/) Solar storm & space weather FAQ (NASA) (https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/sunearth/spaceweather/index.html) Can solar flares hurt astronauts? (Universe Today) (https://www.universetoday.com/92897/can-solar-flares-hurt-astronauts/) Fast & slow solar wind (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_wind#Fast_and_slow_solar_wind) The Carrington Event of 1859 (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coronal_mass_ejection#History) How are the astronauts in the ISS protected from solar flares? (Space Exploration, Stack Exchange) (https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/1034/how-are-the-astronauts-in-the-iss-protected-from-solar-flares) Who's afraid of a solar flare? (NASA) (https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2005/07oct_afraid) What if the biggest solar storm on record happened today? (National Geographic) (http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/03/110302-solar-flares-sun-storms-earth-danger-carrington-event-science/) Did a massive solar proton event fry the Earth? (Space Daily) (http://www.spacedaily.com/reports/Did_A_Massive_Solar_Proton_Event_Fry_The_Earth_999.html) 1 in 8 chance of catastrophic solar megastorm by 2020 (Wired) (https://www.wired.com/2012/02/massive-solar-flare/) Corrections The sun will eventually become a red giant (not a red dwarf) & then a white dwarf (Space.com) (https://www.space.com/58-the-sun-formation-facts-and-characteristics.html) It sounds like Saturn, not Jupiter, emits infrared radiation from frictional heating - Jupiter's 'glow' is thought to be from cooling left over from its formation (LibreTexts Physics) (https://phys.libretexts.org/TextMaps/Astronomy_and_Cosmology_Textmaps/Map%3A_Astronomy_(Impey)/7%3A_The_Giant_Planets_and_their_Moons/7.5__Thermal_Radiation_from_Gas_Giant_Planets) Apparently the sun is only half way through its main sequence lifecycle (Wikipedia) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun#Main_sequence) The sun won’t die for 5 billion years (The Conversation) (http://theconversation.com/the-sun-wont-die-for-5-billion-years-so-why-do-humans-have-only-1-billion-years-left-on-earth-37379) Estimates vary, but it's agreed it takes a LONG time for a photon to escape the sun (Futurism) (https://futurism.com/how-the-sun-works/) Why does it take thousands of years for light to escape the Sun? (Ask a Mathematician/Physicist) (http://www.askamathematician.com/2013/08/q-why-does-it-take-thousands-of-years-for-light-to-escape-the-sun/) Check out our new Fireside home Find aaaaall the great episodes, show notes, Patreon link & handy instructions should you feel like leaving us a cheeky iTunes review ? (http://strangeattractor.random.productions) Image credit: NASA