Question 1 of 10Correct: 0
What happened to the Sun in the 17th century?
Does this fully explain the cooling?
Why do large flares happen more often above groups of sunspots?
What should you check after news of a solar flare?
Why does the Sun shine steadily instead of flaring up at once?
How does energy get from the solar core to the surface?
What is the main practical danger during a solar storm?
What provides the only effective protection?
What will happen to the Sun in billions of years?
When will Earth become uninhabitable?
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Why the Sun Went Quiet for 70 Years0/2Why the Sun Has Solar Flares0/2What Happens Inside the Sun0/2How the Solar Wind Affects Earthin the app0/2What Will Happen to the Sun in Billions of Yearsin the app0/2
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Answers and explanations10 questions
- What happened to the Sun in the 17th century? Sunspots almost disappeared for nearly 70 yearsThe dip is confirmed both by observer records and by isotope data.From “Why the Sun Went Quiet for 70 Years”
- Does this fully explain the cooling? No: volcanic eruptions also played a significant roleBrightness changes by tenths of a percent, and calculations assign the Sun only part of the effect.From “Why the Sun Went Quiet for 70 Years”
- Why do large flares happen more often above groups of sunspots? The magnetic field is more tangled thereIn groups of sunspots, magnetic loops are especially tangled, and their reconnection quickly releases stored energy.From “Why the Sun Has Solar Flares”
- What should you check after news of a solar flare? Whether a plasma ejection was headed for EarthThe flare's light has already reached Earth, while a plasma ejection may arrive later and cause auroras or induced currents.From “Why the Sun Has Solar Flares”
- Why does the Sun shine steadily instead of flaring up at once? Hydrogen fusion is rare because of tunnelingProtons repel each other, and fusion reactions are rare, so energy is released gradually.From “What Happens Inside the Sun”
- How does energy get from the solar core to the surface? It is absorbed and emitted many times, then carried by gasInside, energy wanders for a long time as radiation, and in the outer layer it is carried by moving hot gas.From “What Happens Inside the Sun”
- What is the main practical danger during a solar storm? Currents induced in long conductorsThey flow through power lines and pipelines and overload transformers.From “How the Solar Wind Affects Earth”
- What provides the only effective protection? Time: the cloud takes hours or days to reach EarthDuring that time, satellites are switched to safe mode and grid operators reduce the load.From “How the Solar Wind Affects Earth”
- What will happen to the Sun in billions of years? It will swell into a red giant, shed its outer layers, and become a white dwarfA supernova requires much more mass than the Sun has.From “What Will Happen to the Sun in Billions of Years”
- When will Earth become uninhabitable? Long before the red giant stage, because luminosity is risingThe Sun becomes brighter by about a tenth of a percent per million years.From “What Will Happen to the Sun in Billions of Years”