What would the SUN be like if you went up close to it?

[A-Schwarzenegger]

What is it actually made out of, not just flames.
Is it different on the surface than in the middle,
and if so how do you know? Is it really yellow or
white like it looks when you look at it?
Please no technical hard science answers with formulas
or big words that nobody but other scientists could
understand. Some people on DU are not scientists.
If you put on a suit (not asbestos--not safe) that
wouldn't melt, what would it be like if you floated up
to it and could look at it through an eyeshield? What
is the closest that any human being has gotten to it?
Thanks. I have a private important reason for wanting to
know.

[jus_the_facts]

1. like this....

[A-Schwarzenegger]

3. How close were you when you took that picture?

[jus_the_facts]

7. about one Lagrangian away.....

.....or L1, libration point, that point along the Earth-Sun line at which the gravitational attraction of the spacecraft to the Earth is just balanced by its attraction to the Sun. Located approximately 1.5 million kilometers from Earth.

http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/

[A-Schwarzenegger]

16. If you were floating in a spacesuit & got stuck at the libation point

would you be able to get out of it if you
didn't have a jetpack? How thick is the libation line?

[Rabrrrrrr]

24. No, because you'd have nothing against which to move

You'd have to have a jet pack.

You'd also want to be lucky enough to gotten yourself to the libation point at a time when the earth is approaching the sun, because then the gravitational attraction of the earth will you back out of the libation point.

You'll still die, but at least you'll die in the cold silent vacuum of space, instead of being sucked into the fiery radiation-spewing hell of the sun.

[jus_the_facts]

26. this explains it somewhat.....

http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wlagran.html

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

2. It would be like walking on top of a thermonuclear explosion

Wear plenty of sunblock, and some reflective sun glasses, as it's as bright as it seems if you look at it from Earth (a really not-wise thing to do, btw). It's also somewhat warmish, so dress accordingly.

And don't forget to baste yourself. Don't want to dehydrate while you're cooking!

[A-Schwarzenegger]

5. Water holes? Shade?

That's a very nice, down-to-earth map.
I like coronal loops, radio radiations, chromospheric flares
and magnetic flux tube. Is there ANY shade there or water
holes, as in the desert? It looks like there might be some
shade if you got under a prominence.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

6. There are plenty of sunspots you can take a swim in

But unless you take an umbrella, you won't get much shade.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

10. How about on the dark side?

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

11. I've never seen a picture of the sun at night

It's something I haven't really spent much time dwelling on. I'll go out tonite after dark and take a good look for you, and get back to you when I have a good answer.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

15. You couldn't take a picture of the sun at night

because it's not there at night.
The people on the other side of the earth
would have to take it.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

23. Oh, I see. You're one of THOSE kinds.

I suppose next you'll be telling me the earth is ROUND or somethin'!

You never heard of black light photography? Sheesh! :evilgrin: :rofl:

[A-Schwarzenegger]

31. I'm all for taking pictures of both things that are there

and things that are not there, both light in darkness
and darkness in light. I also believe that
the earth can be both flat and round at the same time,
which it is.

[IntravenousDemilo]

33. That's hilarious!

:D

[A-Schwarzenegger]

37. They laughed at Galileo, too!

Tony Galileo, the guy who invented bowtie lasagna.

[IntravenousDemilo]

44. Galileo!

Galileo! Galileo! Figaro! Magnifico! He's just a poor boy from a poor family...

[Balbus]

4. Ask Icarus

[A-Schwarzenegger]

8. I believe he had wax wings.

NOT a good idea. If he had used something like duct tape to
hold the featers on or Chinese preserves that actually harden
from heat because of reverse isotopes he might of made it.

[salin]

12. Send Oscar

bet he could make it there and back and give you a full report in just a couple of hours.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

17. He never gives me a full report on anything.

He would go and come back and raise an eyebrow and
call it a report.

[salin]

19. attach an indistructable video cam to him

so when he raises the eyebrow - you can grab the vidcam.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

32. I doubt he would come straight home

after going to the sun. He would stop off at some nefarious
joint, relax and imbibe, and with lower companions start
thinking about ways to make some money off the video, long
before I could ever get my hands on it and do the same.

[salin]

39. oh what great footage will be found

you said you wanted to know, not to get rich off of it - so when he figures out how to get $ out of the deal - the vid will become public and voila- your question will be answered. :D :hi:

[A-Schwarzenegger]

41. Yes but that's assuming he won't alter it with photoshop

or whatever. He'll put all kinds of things in it
that aren't really on the sun, like rainbows and ladders
and ice cream bars.

[yvr girl]

9. Hot

bright.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

18. Have you heard of BluBlockers?

[miss_kitty]

13. I think it would be really hot

and really really sunny. Even on the dark side.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

22. They make anti-snake venom out of snake venom

so if you could find out what the sun is made out of
(the non-flames part), and then extra compress and
concentrate some of it into a spacesuit, it should
protect you, technically. If we can go the moon, we
can go to the sun.

[northzax]

14. you know what? this is a good question

I think we can take up a collection to send you, governor, on a 'fact finding mission' I'm in for a buck. anyone else?

in reality, it looks roughly like this:

times a thousand trillion (give or take a factor of a trillion)

the sun is simply more than a thousand trillion hydrogen bombs going off simultaneously. the reaction is 4 hydrogen atoms plus 2 electrons being built into 4 helium atoms, 2 neutinos and 6 photons.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

35. Oh, I'm not going to go myself.

I'm going to send Maria. Ladies first. She needs a
vacation.

[obxhead]

20. We are now standing as close

as any human has to the sun.
we've sent satellites closer, but right now you are about as close as you're going to get with current technology.
enjoy.

I believe the center will be white as well.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

40. Did the planets break off from the sun before cavemen started?

[EstimatedProphet]

21. Here's a neat piece of trivia

It takes approximately 40 years for the light from the center of the sun to get out.

I have no idea anymore where I heard that. Nor do I know the physics behind it.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

29. How could it take that long?

You mean light takes longer to go through some thing
than through space? How thick is the sun, several miles
at least, but it doesn't seem like it could take light
40 miles to go through it. Could light get confused and
lose its way?

[derby378]

47. It takes longer for light to pass through water than through air

That's why, when you drop a pencil in a clear glass of water, you get that refraction thing going on where the pencil seems to split in two. The light waves are slowed as they pass through the water.

Water has a certain amount of density, however. Now, imagine the core of the sun, which is an ultraviolent and ultradense mass of churning plasma compressed by its own collective gravity to where the temperature is some 200,000,000 F. There's so much pressure and density that the inner core is probably almost solid despite the ungodly heat. It's gonna take a long, long time for light waves to navigate through that churning plasma hell.

[Tallison]

48. What, exactly, is plasma?

[northzax]

51. and does it take 40 years

for light to get out of a plasma TV as well?

plasma is the state between liquid and solid. has characteristics of both, but not all of either. usually only obtained at very high heat.

I think the reason it would take so long for 'light' to escape is that the gravitational field and the obstacles of the particles in the way force the light to act as a particle, and that particle can be blocked. So really, the light from the inside of the sun never 'escapes' the photons simply create energy for other reactions. The only 'light' that escapes comes from near the surface.

[Tallison]

54. See post below

Sounds like plasma is more like something between a gas and the 5th dimension.

[derby378]

52. Plasma is the fourth state of matter after solid, liquid, and gas

Quick primer:

Take a solid block of frozen nitrogen. Pretty damn cold. In a solid, all of the atoms of nitrogen are in a tight, fixed package.

Heat that block up, and you get liquid nitrogen. You can dip a rose in it and it'll freeze it perfectly. But the thing about liquid nitrogen (or any liquid, for that matter) is that the nitrogen atoms are more malleable and can shift positions within the mass. The hotter a substance is, the more room there is for individual atoms to move around in.

Bring that liquid nitrogen to room temperature, and you have the third state of matter - gas. Now the atoms have so much room to move around in that they can distance themselves from each other.

But if you were to take all that nitrogen and heat it up real good - say, a few thousand degrees - those atoms in the nitrogen cloud will be bouncing around so much it's just plain crazy. But something else happens, too. Many of the electrons in the nitrogen atoms start jumping around from atom to atom like an electronic game of hopscotch. At this point, the nitrogen atoms are ionized, and the gas is also capable of conducting a large, sustained electric current.

And that's plasma - a state of matter in which the individual atoms are in a constant state of ionized flux and where the substance can conduct a huge amount of electricity. In some ways, it acts like a liquid and a gas at the same time.

The simplest form of plasma is a lightning bolt.

Hope this helps!

[Tallison]

53. So can only certain elements become plasma?

What about dense types, like lead? What about compounds? What's lightening made out of?

Good stuff!

[derby378]

56. Those are all very good questions

And I risk getting out of my league here, except that lightning on Earth can only come from the gases in Earth's atmosphere, so I'd say (unless someone else can help me here) that plasma can consist of a mixture of elements if not an actual compound, and that lightning is made of a mixture of elements in our atmosphere.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

58. I believe caramel is one ingredient in lightning.

At least it is in the Midwest. A mixture of haydust, corn
pollen, rainwater, reverse ions, and electricity produces
a caramel, which leaves a thin coat on things struck.

[derby378]

61. Oscar? Is that you?

I've been wanting to pick your brain about the possibility of temperatures colder than absolute zero. Do you think that a block of helium ice at -1 K could actually travel backwards in time, requiring those in the past to warm it just to bring it back to its present time?

[A-Schwarzenegger]

66. It would probably travel sideways in time, meaning it would leap

into your neighbor's house. This is because of reverse
slippage of the ice atoms turning inside out as it went
past absolute zero. I would check with your neighbor before
trying it.

[Tallison]

46. But can light exist at the center

of something as dense and massive as a planet? Part of me (may be my right kidney) says that it can't. But the cartilage in my left index has doubts. :shrug:

[A-Schwarzenegger]

59. Could there be such a thing as pre-light?

[Tallison]

68. Then there'd have to be pre-light bulbs

which naturally no one wants you to have. :shrug:

[A-Schwarzenegger]

69. I like the way you pre-think.

[Jara sang]

25. It might burn you.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

27. What if you just went an inch closer at a time?

And then waited until you adjusted to the increased heat
before you went the next inch.

[Jara sang]

28. Set the controls for the heart of the sun! Baby!

[ScreamingMeemie]

30. Hot.

:hi:

[A-Schwarzenegger]

45. Why isn't there any smoke?

Where there's smoke, there's fire,
ipso facto,
where there's fire, there should be smoke.
Where's the smoke?
Frankly, these are questions that should have been asked
a long long time ago.

[IntravenousDemilo]

34. I reckon...

it would be uncomfortably warm, but that's OK because it's not very humid.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

38. Dry heat isn't as bad.

How is it in winter?

[IntravenousDemilo]

42. Prolly much the same.

I hear it's more or less tropical.

[Zuni]

36. I bet it is like a giant tanning bed

[A-Schwarzenegger]

43. I think scientists throw around a lot of big numbers

and figure nobody will look into it. I have no doubt
the sun is hot but I do doubt it is anywhere near as hot
as they say. If it was as hot as they say it is it
would of burned itself out a long time ago. How much wood
or gas or other fuel was it made of when it first caught
fire? It should have been burned up by now. I think when
someone finally lands there everybody will be very surprised
at how it really is. Can anybody think of any reason why
somebody would want to keep us off the sun, hmmm?

[Ellipsis]

49. I'd bet it have bad breath.

[Splatter Phoenix]

50. Reminds me of that guy who thought the moon was a government conspiracy.

:rofl:

Funny stuff.

No, really, I don't understand the concept of the ...sun thing. I just know if we don't sacrifice a virgin EVERY night, it ain't coming back the next morning. Comprende?

[Ptah]

55. Here's some good science that might help you visualize it:

http://gong.nso.edu/

[A-Schwarzenegger]

57. Yes! I love to think of the sun as a ball of cherrywood with a cowlick.

The blue and red one is beautiful, too, like a Christmas
ornerment. However, the spherical harmonic degree measurement
on the chart does not take negative isotope transmutation
into account, if I'm mistaken.

[Ptah]

60. Yes you are. n/t

[never cry wolf]

62. It is good to think of the sun as a ball

even tho it, like earth is also flat. It is also only approximately 3/4 of an inch in diameter because I have held my thumb up to it at arms length. That's all there is, folks, sorry. As far as a picture of the dark side it could be done now from the upper part of the left part of the hemisphere, but you'd need a pretty powerful flash.

on edit: I tried but I am afraid my flashcubes are weakening. Does anyone have a flashcube charger I could borrow?

[Ptah]

63. Here is some info about seeing the farside of the sun

http://gong.nso.edu/data/farside/

and a recent movie:
http://gong.nso.edu/data/farside/movie.html


more info here:
http://www.cora.nwra.com/~dbraun/farside-gong/
:shrug:

[A-Schwarzenegger]

71. Just hold the flashcube out right against the sun for 30 seconds

and it should charge right up.

[Ptah]

72. O.K. Here it is:

I am employed by the observatory



I am compelled to reveal this insider information.
It will be public soon any way:

There is a proposal to probe the sun's surface.

And still you make fun. I understand this is the lounge and all,
but there is real science happening.

Here is the first report from the surface of the sun:

[A-Schwarzenegger]

73. He's not Gellin'.

[Ptah]

76. Like a felon.

:silly:

[ashling]

64. Answer: Exactly the same as it is now.

You, however would take on a decidedly crispier personality.
:rofl:

[Sabriel]

65. I think They Might Be Giants said it best:

"Why Does The Sun Shine?"
(The Sun Is A Mass Of Incandescent Gas)

The sun is a mass of incandescent gas
A gigantic nuclear furnace
where hydrogen is built into helium
at a temperature of millions of degrees

Yo ho it's hot
The Sun is not
a place where we could live
but here on earth there'd be no life without the light it gives

We need its light
We need its heat
We need its energy

Without the sun
Without a doubt
There'd be no you and me

The sun is a mass of incandescent gas
A gigantic nuclear furnace
where hydrogen is built into helium
at a temperature of millions of degrees

The sun is hot

It is so hot that everything on it is a gas
Iron
Copper
Aluminum
and many others

The sun is large

If the sun were hollow a million earths could fit inside
and yet the sun is only a middle-sized star

The sun is far away

About 93 million miles away!
and that's why it looks so small

And even when it's out of sight
the sun shines night and day

The sun gives heat
The sun gives light
The sunlight that we see
The sunlight comes from our own sun's atomic energy

Scientists have found that the sun is a huge atom-smashing machine
The heat and light of the sun come from the nuclear reactions of
Hydrogen
Carbon
Nitrogen
and Helium

The sun is a mass of incandescent gas
A gigantic nuclear furnace
where hydrogen is built into helium
at a temperature of millions of degrees

[A-Schwarzenegger]

70. That is the most educational song I ever heard of.

They Might Be Scientists.

[Ellipsis]

67. Reverse engineer Cosmos 1

...if you put a Delorian on it... would you go back in time before the sun got hot?

[A-Schwarzenegger]

81. A stoned car salesman will not do well on the sun.

[NNadir]

74. The sun is a plasma.

This is a fourth state of matter, neither solid, liquid nor gas.

People have more experience with plasmas than they think they do.

It is very much like what is going on inside a flourescent bulb or in CRT type television tubes. A plasma has interesting magnetic properties. Take a magnet and hold it to a flourescent bulb to see what I mean. Plasmas are most like gases, but the electrons have boiled off the atoms.

The "yellowness" of the sun represents a maximum intensity, or the most strongly represented color in the solar radiation. It is not the color you would see in the instant before going blind. You would see white. The sun radiates in all frequencies, but the yellow color is the most intense, which is why it is thought of as a yellow star. The average surface temperature of the sun determines the maximal radiation frequency. The hottest stars are blue; the coolest are red. The sun is intermediate in temperature. It is an intermediate star in many other ways.

The surface temperature of the sun is about 6000 C, which is higher than the melting point of any known substance.

Probably the closest approach to the sun by a human was during one of the Apollo missions, depending on the position of the moon when the astronauts orbited it. Obviously the moon is closer to the sun than earth for about half the time, and farther the other half. The eliptical nature of earth's orbit may have had some effect on this case. The moon orbit would have been closer than the landing. In the Apollo missions, one astronaut orbited the moon while two landed. It may be that the closest approach to the sun was by one of the astronauts who didn't land on the moon. I don't know the actual case though.

The closest approach to the sun by a human made device was Mariner 10 in the 1970's which was a mission to the planet Mercury.

[A-Schwarzenegger]

75. What a swell post. Are you a teacher?

Information, casual humility, entertainment, fun, good writing--
can't beat it. However, what would happen if I held a magnet
to a fluorescent bulb? I foresee an explosion or a color show.

[NNadir]

78. Thanks for your kind words. I am not a teacher, but I am a scientist.

I am a chemist.

Your fluorescent bulb will not explode, so you can try the experiment with the magnet. (I don't however recommend this experiment with the TV set though. I've done it myself, and occasionally it can leave little glows in the phosphors on the screen surface that are annoying. Phosphors are responsible for the colors you see. They are chemicals that radiate light of specific color when struck by electrons.)

The plasmas in fluorescent bulbs are not very dense. There is actually only a very tiny amount of in fact, which is why the bulbs don't get very hot. If there was a lot, the bulbs would get hot or even melt. Because the plasmas are so dilute, almost all of the energy applied is converted to light, which is why fluorescent lighting is so energy efficient.

Try it with the bulb and let me know what you see.

In novelty stores, they sell "lightening in a glass bulb" devices. You may have seen these in malls. These are also plasmas. By touching these, one can generate a lot of heat, much more than one sees with fluorescent lights, though not enough to melt the glass. These also react with magnets in interesting and fun ways.

[Jamastiene]

77. Hot.

That's about it. It would be hot.

[Orsino]

79. The Sun would be like, "Back off!"

And you would be like, "Make me." The Sun would be like, "I don't make trash; I burn it." And you would be like, "Whatever."

[A-Schwarzenegger]

80. I would never be so silly as to say "Whatever."

I would say something like, "Your mother is a black hole."