This is a Star! Not just any star this is our Star, The Sun. Where do I start about this beautiful, glowing orb of light and heat? Let's start with it's distance from us. The Sun is approximately 93 Million miles away from earth, we give that the designation of 1 AU ( Astronomical Unit ). So the Earth is 1 AU from the Sun, Jupiter is 5.2 AU. It's size. The sun is about 865,000 miles in diameter that is about 109 times that of the Earth. In Fact you could fit about 1.3 Million Earths inside the Sun. What is it made of? Is it a big ball on fire? The Sun is a big ball of Gas. It is Primarily Hydrogen and Helium. That's right Helium, just like the stuff we put in balloons. There are trace amounts of other elements as well. The sun "Burns" by a process called Nuclear Fusion. This is where it smashes two Hydrogen atoms together and creates Helium. We know about Nuclear forces here on Earth, in 1945 we dropped bomb on Japan in Hiroshima was a Nuclear Fission bomb. That is the opposite of the suns type of Nuclear event. The Fusion process is more energetic and creates vasts more amounts of Energy. What is the Temperature of the Sun? The "apparent surface" of the Sun is 5,800 Kelvin while the inside core is 15,600,000 Kelvin. Converted into degrees Fahrenheit is 9,980 degrees Fahrenheit and 28,000,000 Million degrees at the Core.

   The following Photograph shows the layers of the Sun. The part of the sun that we see is the Photosphere. The only time we can see the fainter Corona or the Chromosphere is either during a full Solar Eclipse or with the proper Satellite or Telescope. The Chromosphere is where we see the Solar Storms or Flares. A sunspot is an area of the surface that is cooler than the rest of the surface. Now if you were to block out everything around the sunspot it would be far brighter than an Electrical Arc. This is considered to be an area of intense magnetic field activity.

 

   The photo above shows the Sun's Magnetic Field. Look at it this way, imagine the magnetic field lines are rubber bands running throughout the sun and being twisted. This is where we see a Sunspot. Now what is going to happen to that rubber band after it is twisted so much? It will pop! This is a Solar Flare. Now most solar flares will release something called a Coronal Mass Ejection or CME. In the top photograph you can see a Solar Flare. That large flare when released from the surface is a CME. It the gets blasted into space. Now every 11 years the sun goes through cycles the Solar Minimum or the Solar Maximum. We have now entered into the Solar Maximum. This is the reason you are hearing about Solar Flares in the news. They are saying the Solar Maximum will peak in around 2013-2014. They are also saying it could be one of the most active times we will observe. Now that is not guaranteed it is just a guess. Now if these CME's are directed at Earth it will hit our Magnetic Field then be redirected toward our poles and cause what we know as the Auroras. In the North Pole these are called Aurora Borealis, in the South pole we call them Aurora Australis. When the CME's hit our atmosphere they interact with our Ionosphere hence causing the Aurora.

  The image above is a illustration of a CME hitting the Earths Magnetic Field. Today we have satellites looking at the nothing but, the Sun. The government agency NOAA ( National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ) with these satellites are able to predict " Space Weather ". If you hear of a solar Flare you can go to their website and find out if you will be able to see the Aurora in your area. Yes we can see Aurora in Indiana as well as other states in North America. It has been seen in Kentucky not sure how far south but you can find out at www.NOAA.gov. If you are going to be able to see an Aurora take a camera. Your pictures can help scientists figure out how far south they can be seen in relation to the strength of the CME. Plus believe me if you see them you will want to take a picture they are just beautiful. Are the Auroras dangerous? Well the short answer is, No. I say no because, they will not harm you as a human. They can affect our power grids and satellites. Those satellites control Internet, T.V. and Cellular communications, as well as GPS for what you have in your car as well as those in airplanes. So they can be debilitating, to our infrastructure. If we see CME's headed for Earth I will now be posting links on Facebook and Google+. If I missed something you was hoping to read about leave me a comment I will address it as soon as I can. I will end this post with a picture of an Aurora. Have a good night hope you enjoyed this post.