![]() Across the transition zone, the temperature of the solar plasma soars to nearly a million degrees Celsius. This is a thin, irregular layer that separates the relatively cool chromosphere from the much hotter corona. Spires of chromospheric gas, known as spicules, can reach up to a height of 10 0000 km. In general, the chromosphere is roughly 1000–2000 kilometers thick, with a temperature that rises from around 4000 to about 25 000 degrees Celsius. This is the layer above the photosphere, where the density of plasma drops dramatically. The temperature of the photosphere varies from place to place but lies between 45 degrees Celsius. It is where the energy generated in the core can finally move freely through space. ![]() Almost all radiation from the Sun is emitted from this thin layer of several 100 km thickness, which lies at the upper boundary of the convection zone. This is the visible ‘surface’ of the Sun. The change of rotation speed across the tachocline is very fast and this results in shearing forces that are thought to be important in the creation of the magnetic fields that lead to sunspots. Above it, the Sun rotates at different speeds according to its latitude. Below the tachocline, the Sun rotates like a solid body. This is the boundary between the convective zone and the radiative zone. At the base, next to the Sun’s core, the temperature is around seven million degrees Celsius. At the top of the zone, the temperature is around two million degrees Celsius. It takes photons around 170 000 years to pass through the radiative zone: The photons travel at the speed of light, but can travel only a few millimeters at a time before they are absorbed by an atom and then re-emitted in any direction. Instead, the energy created in the core diffuses slowly through the plasma. Although not as dense as the core, the plasma is still packed so tightly in the radiative zone that convection cannot take place. Every second, the Sun converts four million tonnes of matter into energy in this way, which begins a slow journey towards the surface. This, combined with the huge pressure and density of the plasma force hydrogen nuclei to fuse together, creating helium and releasing vast quantities of energy in the process. ![]() ![]() The temperature in the core is around 15 million degrees Celsius. This is where the Sun generates its energy. ![]()
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