III.   The Sun

    This page introduces the section on the Sun in "From Stargazers to Starships"; for an older, longer introduction (especially for teachers), click here.

    The Sun is of course essential to life on Earth, and its study involves most branches of science. To geophysics, it is the source of our climate and weather, subjects discussed in some detail in the first 3 sections, covering ways our atmosphere receives and loses heat, the greenhouse effect, global circulation of winds, thunderstorms and much more.

    The Sun's visible surface features large scale magnetic phenomena--sunspots--rising and falling in an 11-year cycle and sometimes violently erupting. That surface is discussed in sections (S-2) and (S-3), with a graphic exercise on interplanetary magnetic field lines in (S-3A).

    The different colors and wavelength regions of sunlight tell much about the Sun, though reading that message requires a better understanding of the nature of light. That is discussed in sections (S-4) to (S-6).

    To understand the Sun's energy source, some nuclear physics must be brought in. That is done in (S-7), with related discussions of energy generation in other stars and their final destinies. One such outcome is a black hole. and the one at the center of our galaxy is discussed in (S-7a). Nuclear physics brings in subjects of commercial nuclear power, nuclear weapons and the history of how atoms and nuclei were discovered, all in sections (S-8), (S-9), supplemented by a short course on nuclear energy, with problems, written for a project of the State of Virginia.

    Brief optional sections were added during the writing of the lesson plans: on the three-color theory of vision (#S-4A; an easier approach was later found and is cited), on the interplanetary magnetic field (#S-6A) and on the history of atomic and nuclear theory (#S-7A). The first two contain hands-on exercises.

    The Sun--Introduction

          How the Sun produces weather and climate
S-1.     Sunlight and the Earth
    S-1A.     Weather and the Atmosphere
    S-1B.     Global Climate, Global Wind flow

S-2.     Our View of the Sun
S-3.     The Magnetic Sun
    S-3A.     Interplanetary Magnetic Field Lines
S-4.     The Many Colors of Sunlight
  S-4A.     Experimenting with Colors
S-5.     Waves and Photons

Optional series of sections on Quantum Phenomena:

Q-1.     Quantum Physics
Q-2.     The Atomic Structure of Matter
Q-3.     Atomic Energy Levels
Q-4.     Planck's Constant: Radiation from Hot Objects
Q-5.     The Atomic Nucleus and Bohr's Early Model of the Atom
Q-6.     Expansion of the Bohr Model
Q-7.     Wave Mechanics
Q-8.     Quantum Tunneling

S-6.     Seeing the Sun in a New Light
S-7.     The Energy of the Sun

Peripheral Subjects related to section S-7 above:

LS-7A     The Discovery of Atoms and Nuclei
           (A very quick overview of the relevant history.)
S-7A     The Black Hole at the Center of our Galaxy
S-8.     Nuclear Power
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S-8A   "Nuclear Energy--a more detailed overview" Contributed in 2009 to a high-school supplementary "Flexbook," updating science instruction in the state of Virginia and sponsored by CK-12, inc.

S-8A-0   0. Nuclear Energy--Summary
S-8A-1   1. The Foundations: Atoms and Nuclei
S-8A-2   2. Nuclear Binding Energy
S-8A-3   3. Fission of Heavy Nuclei
S-8A-4   4. Controlling the Nuclear Reaction
    Article by Leslie Allen on using Thorium for nuclear fuel
S-8A-5   References, Questions and Answers
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S-9.     Nuclear Weapons