The Sun – the star at the center of the solar system and the primary source of energy and natural light for Earth. However, few people know the exact composition that makes up the Sun.
The Sun is a massive ball filled with hot gases. In the core of the Sun, this hot gas is converted into energy. The energy then moves and spreads through the inner layers to the Sun’s atmosphere, before continuing to radiate energy into the solar system in the form of heat and light.
In the hot gas layer, hydrogen makes up about 72%. Nuclear fusion transforms hydrogen into many other chemical elements. Additionally, the Sun contains approximately 26% helium, along with a collection of elements such as oxygen, carbon, neon, nitrogen, magnesium, iron, and silicon.
Solar System
All these chemical elements are formed in the core of the Sun and account for 25% of the Sun’s total mass. Meanwhile, gravitational force creates immense pressure and extremely high temperatures in the core area, reaching up to 15 million degrees Celsius. Hydrogen atoms are compressed and ignited, producing helium and a vast source of energy. This entire process is known as nuclear fusion.
At this stage, the energy primarily exists in the form of photons, neutrinos, and gamma rays, which are transported to the radiation zone. These photons can exist in the radiation zone for about 1 million years before passing through the boundary layer, also known as the tachocline – located between the radiation zone and the convection zone. According to scientists, the Sun’s magnetic field is generated from a magnetic dynamo within the tachocline layer.
The convection zone is considered the outermost layer within the Sun’s interior. Compared to the Sun’s atmosphere, the convection zone is located at a depth of 200,000 km. However, the temperature in this area is quite cool, suitable for heavy-mass ions such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, calcium, and iron maintained in an electron state. These electrons are light-blocked and have the ability to absorb additional heat, thereby creating a boiling process or plasma transformation.
This transformation activity causes the surface temperature – the bottom layer of the Sun’s atmosphere, known as the photosphere, to rise rapidly. In the photosphere layer, energy is emitted in the form of sunlight. Sunlight passes through the outer layers of the Sun’s atmosphere, including the chromosphere and the corona, before reaching Earth. The entire process occurs within 8 minutes.
Over the years, astronomers have dedicated time to studying the composition of the Sun. As a result, scientists have identified 67 notable chemical elements. Among them, there are also other chemical elements that contribute to the formation of the Sun, but due to their extremely low abundance, research instruments have been unable to determine their names.
Out of the total of 67 elements, 10 basic elements make up the Sun. In terms of the Sun’s total mass, hydrogen accounts for 71%, helium 27.1%, oxygen 0.97%, carbon 0.4%, nitrogen 0.096%, silicon 0.099%, magnesium 0.076%, neon 0.058%, iron 0.014%, and sulfur 0.04%.
