Interior of the Sun

Regions of the Sun include the core, radiation zone, convection zone, and photosphere. Gases in the core are about 150 times as dense as water and reach temperatures as high as 16 million degrees C (29 million degrees F). The Sun’s energy is produced in the core through nuclear fusion of hydrogen atoms into helium. In the radiation zone, heat flows outward through gases that are about as dense as water. The radiation zone is cooler than the core, about 2.5 million degrees C (4.5 million degrees F). In the convection zone, churning motions of the gases carry the Sun’s energy further outward. The convection zone is slightly cooler, about 2 million degrees C (3.6 million degrees F), and less dense, about one-tenth as dense as water. The photosphere is much cooler, about 5500° C (10,000° F) and much less dense, about one-millionth that of water. The turbulence of this region is visible from earth in the form of sunspots, solar flares, and small patches of gas called granules.

The Sun's Atmosphere

The material in the Sun farther out from the center than the photosphere makes up the Sun’s atmosphere. The atmosphere extends far beyond the disk we see in the sky. Very diffuse solar gases extend all the way to Earth and beyond.

The solar atmosphere consists of, from the innermost part outward, the photosphere, the chromosphere, the corona, and the expanding outer layers of the corona that astronomers call the solar wind. The photosphere is the visible part of the Sun. We look right through the chromosphere, the corona, and the solar wind, just as we see through Earth’s atmosphere at night.

The chromosphere and corona are visible during total solar eclipses, when the Moon lines up between the Sun and Earth, completely blocking the main disk of the Sun from view. The thin chromosphere becomes visible a few seconds before or after a solar eclipse, creating a narrow pink, rose, or ruby-colored band at the edge of the Sun. For up to eight minutes during an eclipse, the corona is visible to the unaided eye as a faint, shimmering halo of pearl-white light spreading out from the lunar silhouette. Although the light of the chromosphere and corona is not bright enough to be dangerous, and can be viewed safely without filters during the total phase of an eclipse, the partial phases of a solar eclipse are very hazardous to human eyes and can only be viewed indirectly or through special filters. Scientists can study all layers of the Sun’s atmosphere at any time using special instruments.

Mercury

Mercury (planet), one of the planets in the solar system. Mercury orbits closest to the Sun of all the planets, at an average distance of approximately 58 million km (about 36 million mi). The planet’s diameter is 4,879 km (3,032 mi), and its volume and mass are about one-eighteenth that of Earth. Mercury’s mean density is approximately equal to that of Earth and is higher than that of any of the other planets. The force of gravity on the planet's surface is about one-third of that on Earth's surface or about twice the surface gravity on the Moon.

Mercury revolves once about the Sun every 88 days. Radar observations of the planet show that it rotates only once every 58.7 days, two-thirds of its period of revolution. Only three of the planet’s days, therefore, occur during every two of its years. The side facing the Sun gets very hot, while the side facing away quickly cools to frigid temperatures. The point in Mercury's orbit at which the planet is closest to the Sun (called the planet’s perihelion) moves a tiny amount every orbit, too much to be accounted for by the gravitational influence of other planets. The observation of these changes in Mercury's perihelion was one of the first confirmations of Einstein’s theory of relativity, which predicted their existence.

SURFACE

The Mariner 10 spacecraft passed Mercury twice in 1974 and once in 1975. It sent back pictures of a moonlike, crater-pocked surface and reported temperatures to be about 430°C (about 810°F) on the sunlit side and about -180°C (about -290°F) on the dark side. Although Mercury’s surface appears very similar to the surface of the Moon, there are some significant differences. The smooth, lava-like plains on Mercury, for example, are not as dark as the smooth plains (maria) of the Moon. Also unlike the surface of the Moon, the surface of Mercury is crisscrossed by long escarpments, or cliffs, indicating a period of contraction as the planet cooled early in its history.

Mercury is a poor reflector of sunlight because its surface consists of rough, porous, dark-colored rock. The planet’s albedo, or the amount of sunlight it reflects, is only about 12 percent. Earth, in contrast, reflects about 37 percent of the sunlight that strikes it, while Venus, the most reflective planet in the solar system, reflects 65 percent.

COMPOSITION

Mercury’s high density indicates that the relatively dense and abundant element iron accounts for a large proportion of the planet’s composition. The surface of Mercury, however, contains little iron, suggesting that most of Mercury’s iron is now concentrated in a large iron core. Collisions with other protoplanets early in the history of the solar system may have stripped away much of Mercury’s low-density crust, leaving behind a dense, iron-rich core.

In 1991 powerful radio telescopes on Earth revealed signs of vast deposits of ice in the polar regions of Mercury. These ice deposits occur in areas where sunlight never falls, such as crater bottoms near both of the planet’s poles. Similar ice deposits were found during the 1990s near the poles of the Moon by the Clementine and Lunar Prospector spacecrafts.

Scientists use a technique called spectroscopy to conduct studies of the light that Mercury reflects. These studies indicate that planet has only an extremely thin atmosphere, containing sodium and potassium. Apparently these elements slowly escape as gases from the crust of the planet.

MAGNETIC FIELD

Mercury is the only rocky planet other than Earth to have a global magnetic field, which is about 1 percent as strong as Earth's. The presence of the field and its global extent together suggest that the core of the planet is largely liquid iron, which produces a magnetic field as it moves. Scientists believe Mercury's crust insulates the planet's outer core, keeping it liquid despite the very cold temperatures on the dark side of the planet.

Venus

Venus (planet), one of the planets in the solar system, the second in distance from the Sun. Except for the Sun and the Moon, Venus is the brightest object in the sky. The planet is called the morning star when it appears in the east at sunrise, and the evening star when it is in the west at sunset. In ancient times the evening star was called Hesperus and the morning star Phosphorus or Lucifer. Because of the distances of the orbits of Venus and Earth from the Sun, Venus is never visible more than three hours before sunrise or three hours after sunset.

When viewed through a telescope, the planet exhibits phases like the Moon. Maximum brilliance (a stellar magnitude of -4.4, 15 times as bright as the brightest star) is seen in the crescent phase when Venus is closer to Earth. Venus’s full phase appears smaller and dimmer because it occurs when the planet is on the far side of the Sun from Earth. The phases and positions of Venus in the sky repeat every 1.6 years (see Time; Year). Transits of Venus (when the planet moves across the face of the Sun as seen from Earth) are rare, occurring in pairs at intervals of a little more than a century. The next two transits will be in 2004 and 2012.

Topics:

• Exploration
• Atmosphere
• Surface Features

Exploration to Venus

Venus's complete cloud cover and deep atmosphere make it difficult to study from Earth. Most knowledge of the planet has been obtained through the use of space vehicles, particularly those carrying probes that descend through the atmosphere. The first flyby was that of Mariner 2, launched by the United States in 1962, followed by Mariner 5 in 1967 and Mariner 10 in 1974. The former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics developed several entry probes, some combined with flybys or orbiters: Venera 4 and 5 (1967), 6 (1969), 7 (1970), 8 (1972), 9 and 10 (1975), 11 and 12 (1978), 13 and 14 (1981), and 15 and 16 (1983); Vega 1 and 2, sent toward Halley's comet in 1984, also flew by Venus and released descent capsules. Several of these probes successfully reached the planet's surface. The United States sent two Pioneer Venus missions in 1978. Pioneer Venus 2 sent four probes to the surface, while the remaining craft explored the upper atmosphere. Pioneer Venus 1, an orbiter, measured the upper atmosphere for 14 years. The Magellan probe, launched toward Venus in 1989, transmitted radar images of the planet from 1990 to 1994.