A completely logical question is, what is the Sun? Structure of the sun

> Sun

Clear description Sun for children: interesting facts about the star of the solar system, how much larger the Earth is with photos, how the Sun appeared, what it is made of, spots.

Even for the little ones It’s no secret that we owe the appearance of life on our planet to the only star in the system – the Sun. Parents or teachers At school can start a story about the Sun and explanation for children because, like other stars, ours acts as the center and surpasses all planets in size. When compared with, it is 109 times larger in diameter and occupies 99.8% of the total mass of the system. Interestingly, within the solar volume you can place about a million planets like ours.

The temperature of the visible part heats up to 5500°C. And for the Sun this is not the limit, since its core can heat up to 15 million °C. Parents must explain to the children that in front of them is a real nuclear reactor. To produce this amount of energy would require detonating 100 billion tons of dynamite every second.

But the Sun can be called unique only because life originated within its system. Children must understand that there are more than 100 billion stellar objects in the Milky Way. Although it is the center of the system, it also orbits around the galactic core (25,000 light years away). One revolution takes as much as 250 million years.

The Sun is part of the stellar generation Population I. Such objects are rich in elements that are heavier than helium and younger than the others in age. But Population II and, possibly, III are the older generation, whose representatives still remain unknown.

The emergence and evolution of the Sun - for children

Begin explanation for children It can be explained by the fact that our star was born 4.6 billion years ago. According to the main theory, the entire system was formed from a huge cloud of gas and dust that did not stop rotating - the solar nebula. The internal force of gravity activated the processes of destruction, accelerating the formation and stretching it into the shape of a flattened disk. Because of this, a larger volume of particles headed towards the center and formed the Sun. Below, astronomy for children offers a drawing of the process of star development.

The star has a fairly large amount of fuel, which will allow it to function normally for another 5 billion years. When it exhausts itself, the Sun will start the process of destruction. The star will grow and become a red giant. Subsequently, the upper layers will be destroyed, and the core will explode, becoming a white dwarf. After a long period of time, it will dim, cool and become a white dwarf.

Internal structure and atmosphereSun - for children

Should explain for the little ones that any object can have certain zones. The inner part is represented by the core, radiation and convective levels. Picture of the Sun for children provides a diagram of the composition and structure of a star.

1/4 of the distance from the center to the top goes to the core. With a seemingly small volume (only 2% of the Sun), it is 15 times the density of lead and occupies almost half of the entire stellar mass. From the core to the surface (70%) there is a radiation zone (32% of volume and 48% of mass). Here the light from the core decays, so children should be aware that it may take millions of years for a photon to escape from this region.

Next, a convection layer is approached to the surface (66% volume and 2% mass). Here you can see many “convection cells” with gas rotating inside. Two main types can be distinguished: granulation (width 1000 km) and supergranulation (30,000 km in diameter).

To kid It will be interesting to know that the atmosphere includes the photosphere, chromosphere, transition region and corona. Among other things, there are also solar winds that blow gas out of the corona.

The photosphere is located at the lowest layer. We perceive the light emitted by it as the usual rays of the sun. With a thickness of 500 km, a significant portion of the light comes from the lowest part of the layer. Here the temperature can vary from 6125°C at the bottom to 4125°C at the top.

After it comes the chromosphere. It is much hotter (19725°C) and consists entirely of pointed formations reaching 1000 km in length and 10,000 km in height. Further on, several thousand kilometers away, there is a transition zone. The corona heats it up and also throws off most of the ultraviolet rays.

Above is a super-hot corona, consisting of loops and streams of ionized gas. Its temperature reaches from half a million to 6 million degrees (sometimes it exceeds this mark, reaching several tens if an outbreak occurs). There is a substance in the corona that spreads out in the form of solar winds.

Chemical compositionSun - for children

Like other stars, the Sun is filled with hydrogen and helium. But they also read 7 more less voluminous components. Per one million hydrogen atoms there are: helium (98,000), oxygen (850), carbon (360), neon (120), nitrogen (110), magnesium (40), iron (35) and silicon (35). Despite all these numbers, children should know that hydrogen is the lightest of all, therefore it occupies only 72% of the solar mass, but helium is allocated 26%.

A magnetic field

Parents can explain to the children that the Sun's magnetic field is 2 times higher than the Earth's. But the interesting thing is that it acts unevenly and in some places it can be 3000 times more active. Such "roughness" is constantly evolving because the star's rotation is much faster at the equatorial region than at higher latitudes. Therefore, it turns out that the speed inside is higher than outside. It is because of this that we can observe sunspots, flares and coronal mass ejections. The flares will be the strongest, but a coronal mass ejection, although not as aggressive, will involve a large amount of material (up to 20 billion tons of matter can be released at one time). The bottom picture for children shows the influence of the solar wind and magnetic field on the Earth, as well as their relationship.

Spots and cycles Sun - for children

Children You may have noticed that in some areas the Sun appears darker, as if it has holes. These features are called spots. They reach the shape of a circle and are cooler than the overall surface. They appear in those regions where dense clots of magnetic force lines break through.

The total number of spots is unstable and depends on magnetic activity. Usually the maximum reaches 250, but then they disappear to a minimum. This cycle takes about 11 years. At the very end of this process, the magnetic field rapidly changes polarity.

History of researchSun - for children

Guys It will be interesting to learn as much information as possible about the Sun, because it is the only star in the solar system on which life on our planet depends. Therefore, the study of the Sun is still carried out. Necessary explain to the children, that even ancient people understood the important role the Sun and Moon play in our existence. Because of this, many rock paintings were found, as well as monuments that depicted the movement of celestial bodies. At that time, many firmly believed that it was the Sun that revolved around us. In 150 BC. e. Even a geocentric model appeared, created by Ptolemy, a scientist from Ancient Greece. But Nicolaus Copernicus looked at this theory and in 1543 proposed a heliocentric model (the Sun served as the central point). And in 1610, his thoughts were confirmed, as Galileo Galilei discovered the moons of Jupiter, demonstrating that we are not the center, since not everyone revolves around us.

Of course, humanity has always wanted to know more about the work of the main star. So they started using rockets and telescopes from Earth. NASA sent 8 orbital observatories, which were the Orbiting Solar Observatory (1962-1971). 7 of them achieved success. It was they who managed to analyze the star in ultraviolet and x-ray wavelengths. In addition, images of the super-hot corona were examined.

NASA and the European Space Agency decided to team up and sent the Ulysses spacecraft in 1990, which was supposed to explore the polar regions. Interestingly, NASA's Genesis spacecraft managed to obtain samples of solar wind. The first 3D photos of the Sun were obtained in 2007 from NASA's STEREO (study of solar activity).

If we choose by importance, the lead is now given to the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). It was specially created to study the solar wind. In addition, the list of questions of interest includes the outer and inner layers of the star. The observatory was able to detect coronal waves, measure wind acceleration, map sunspots at the subsurface level, find solar tornadoes, more than 1,000 comets, and improve the ability to predict weather conditions on Earth.

It's also worth remembering that NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) has obtained clues about unknown material leaking near sunspots, as well as some surprising and large-scale surface events. It also enabled scientists to measure, for the first time, high-resolution flares across a wide range of extreme ultraviolet wavelengths.

Remember that the story about the Sun should captivate the child, so take advantage of the photos and drawings on the site, as well as interesting facts about the star. Here you can explore the entire solar system in a fun way, completely free of charge.

The Secret Doctrine, Volume 1

“There is heat, internal and external, in every atom,” say the Commentary Manuscripts to which the writer had access. “Breath of the Father (Spirit) and Breath (or warmth) of the Mother (Matter)”; and they give an explanation which proves that the modern theory of the extinction of the sun's fires, due to the loss of heat through radiation, is erroneous. This assumption is false, even according to the scientists themselves. For, as Prof. Newcomb - “losing heat, a gaseous body is compressed, and the amount of heat generated by compression exceeds the amount that it had to lose in order to produce compression.” This paradox, that a body becomes hotter the greater the contraction produced by its cooling, led to a long debate. Excess heat, so the objection goes, is lost by radiation, and assume that the temperature does not decrease pari passu with a decrease in volume under constant pressure, this means that Charles’s law does not matter. Compression develops heat, that's true; but compression (from cooling) is not capable of developing the full amount of heat existing at a given time in the mass, or even maintaining the body at a constant temperature, etc. Prof. Winchell tries to reconcile this paradox - in reality only apparent, as he proved J. Homer Lane– suggesting that there is “something other than heat.” “Could it not be,” he asks, “simply the mutual repulsion of molecules, which varies according to some law of distance? But even this will not reconcile anyone, unless this “something other than heat” is designated as “Uncaused Heat”, “Breath of Fire”, All-Creative Power plus Absolute Reason, which is unlikely to be admitted by physical science!

The Secret Doctrine teaches that the Sun is the central star, but not a planet. And yet, the ancients knew and revered seven great gods, excluding the Sun and the Earth. Who was this “Mysterious God” whom they singled out like that? Of course, not Uranus, just discovered by Herschel in 1781; but could he not have been known by another name? – asks Ragon. “The Occult Sciences discovered by astronomical calculations that the number of planets should be seven and the ancients should have introduced the Sun into the rock of celestial harmonies and left it to occupy an unoccupied place. Thus, whenever they noticed an influence not characteristic of any of the six planets, they attributed it to the Sun... The error seems important, but it was not so in practical consequences if astrologers replaced Uranus with the Sun, which... is the Central A star of relative immobility and rotating only around its axis, and regulating time and measurement, and which cannot be removed from its true functions. " Maconnerie Occulte", page 447). The names of the days of the week are also incorrect - “Sunday ( Sun-day) should have been Uranus Day ( Urani dies),” adds the learned writer.

Ancient commentaries give the following allegory and explain it:

“Eight houses were built by the Mother; eight houses for the eight Divine Sons: Four greater and four lesser. Eight Blazing Suns according to their age and dignity. Bal-i-lu (Martanda) was dissatisfied, although his house was the largest. He began (to work) like huge elephants do. He breathed (drew) into his womb the vital breaths of his brothers. He tried to absorb them. The four big ones were far away; far at the extreme limit of his kingdom . They were not robbed (were not affected) and laughed. “Do your best, Lord, you cannot reach us.” But the smaller ones cried. They complained to Mother. She exiled Bal-i-lu to the center of her kingdom, from where he could not move. (Since then) he (only) guards and threatens. He pursues them, slowly turning around himself; they quickly turn away from him, and from afar he watches the direction in which his brothers are moving along the path surrounding their dwellings . From this day forward he feeds on the sweat of the Mother's body. He fills himself with her breath and waste. That's why she rejected him."

So the “Rejected Son,” being, obviously, our Sun, as stated above, the “Sons of the Sun” refer not only to our planets, but to celestial bodies in general. Surya himself, being only a reflection of the Central Spiritual Sun, is the prototype of all these bodies that developed after him. IN Vedas he is called Loka-Chakshu, "Eye of the World" (our planetary world), and is one of the three main deities. He is equally called the Son Dyaus or the Son of Aditi, for no distinction is made and no reference is made to esoteric meaning. Thus he is described as being drawn by seven horses and one seven-headed horse; the former relate to his seven planets, the latter to their common origin from the One Cosmic Element. This "One Element" is called, very graphically, "Fire."

Occult Doctrine, at any rate, rejects the hypothesis born of the Nebula theory, that the (seven) major planets evolved from the central solar mass of this visible Sun of ours. Of course, the first condensation of cosmic matter began around the central core, its father Sun; but our Sun, as we are taught, simply separated earlier than all the others, during the compression of the rotating mass, and therefore is their older and larger “brother,” but not their “father.” The eight Adityas, "gods", are all created from the eternal substance (comet matter - Mother) or from the "world substance", which constitutes both the fifth and sixth cosmic Principle, the Upadhi or basis of the World Soul, just as Manas is in man - the Microcosm is Upadhi for Buddhi.

Evolving out of Cosmic Space, the Sun, we are told - before the final formation of the planets revolving around the Sun, and the destruction of the ring-shaped planetary nebulae - before the law of attraction and repulsion was finally balanced, drew into the depths of its mass all the cosmic vitality it could , threatening to absorb his weakest “Brothers” as well. After which it began to feed on “the sweat and waste of the Mother,” in other words, those parts of the Ether (Breath of the World Soul), the existence and composition of which science is still completely ignorant of. For Sir William Grove has expressed a similar theory, saying that systems "gradually change by atmospheric additions or diminutions, or by additions and diminutions arising from nebulous matter," and further that "the sun may condense gaseous matter as it passes in space and, thus, heat can be generated” - that archaic Teaching seems quite scientific even in our century. W. Matthieu Williams suggested the idea that scattered matter or Ether, which is a receiver of thermal radiation from the Universe, is therefore drawn into the depths of the solar mass; throwing out from there the previously condensed and thermally depleted Ether, it contracts and gives up its heat, in order, in turn, to be thrown out in a rarefied and cooled state for a new absorption of heat, which, as this scientist thinks, is thus absorbed by the Ether and condenses again and is distributed by the Suns of the Universe.

This theory is the closest approximation to the Occult Teachings that science has ever imagined; for Occultism explains this by the “Dead Breath” emitted by Marthand and its nourishment by the “sweat and refuse” of “Mother Space”. That which could have a weak effect on Neptune, Saturn and Jupiter would destroy such comparatively small “Abodes” like Mercury, Venus and Mars.

XX. Matter or Substance is sevenfold inside our World, as well as outside it. Moreover, each of its states or principles is divided into seven degrees of density. Surya (Sun) in its visible reflection is the first or lower state of the seventh, highest state of the Universal PRESENCE , the purest of the purest, the primary manifested Breath of the Eternally Unmanifested Sat (Beingness). All central, physical or objective Suns, in their substance, manifest the lower state of the primary principle of Breath. Also, all of them are nothing more than Reflections of their First Principles, hidden from the sight of everyone, with the exception of the Dhyan Chohans, the substance of whose bodies belongs to the fifth division of the seventh principle of the Mother-Substance and therefore it is four degrees higher than the reflected solar substance. Just as there are seven Dhatus (the main elements in the human body), there are also seven Forces in Man and in all Nature.

XXI. The true substance of the Hidden One (Sun) is the core of the Mother Substance . This is the Heart and Womb of all vital and existing Forces in our Solar Universe. This is the nucleus from which all the Forces, which, in the performance of their functional duties, set the Atoms in motion, proceed to spread in their circling wanderings, and it is the Focus in which they meet again in their Seventh Essence every eleventh year. Make fun of anyone who tells you that he has seen the Sun , as if he were saying that the Sun actually moves forward in its daily journey...

XXIII. It was precisely because of its seven-fold nature that the ancients spoke of the Sun as being carried by seven horses, a number equal to the size of the verses in the Vedas; or that although it is identical with the seven Gana's (Class of Beings) in its sphere, it is different from them- true so; also that it has Seven Rays, for truly it has them...

XXV. The Seven Beings in the Sun are the Seven Most Holy Self-Born from the power inherent in the Womb of the Mother-Substance. Namely, they send out the seven main Forces, called Rays, which, at the beginning of Pralaya, will concentrate in the seven new Suns for the next Manvantara. The energy from which they arise into conscious existence, in each Sun, is what some people call Vishnu, which is Breath ABSOLUTE . We call this the One Manifested Life, which itself is a reflection of the Absolute...

The latter should never be uttered in words or speech FOR FEAR LET IT TAKE AWAY PART OF OUR SPIRITUAL ENERGIES, who rush to His state, spiritually, eternally gravitating towards That, just as the entire physical Universe gravitates towards His manifested Center - cosmically.

words of Hermes the Thrice Great:

“The life-creativity of the sun is as continuous as its light; nothing stops or limits him. Around him are gathered, like an army of satellites, countless MANY GENIUS. They live in the neighborhood of the Immortals and from there they oversee human affairs. They carry out the will of the Gods (Karma) through storms, hurricanes, transmission of fires and earthquakes; also by famine and war, to punish godlessness... . The sun preserves and nourishes all creatures, and just as the Ideal World, which surrounds the sentient world, fills this latter with a multitude and universal diversity of forms, so the sun, embracing everything with its light, affirms the birth and development of creatures everywhere... Subordinate to him are many Geniuses, or rather multitudes, for they are numerous and varied, and their number corresponds to the number of stars. Each star has its own Genius, good and evil by nature, or rather, by virtue of their actions, for action is the essence of Genius...

We must boldly stand up to science and say in front of face materialistic scholarship, idealism, hylo-idealism, positivism and the all-denying modern psychology, that the true occultist believes in the "Lords of Light", that he believes in the sun, which is far from being a mere "light of day" moving according to physical law, and also far from being just one of those suns that, according to Richter, are “sunflowers of the highest light” - but like billions of other suns, it is the abode or chariot (vehicle) of God and the legion of Gods.

The sun is Matter and the sun is Spirit. Our “pagan” ancestors, like their modern successors the Parsees, were and are now wise enough for their generation to see in the Sun a symbol of the Divine and, at the same time, to sense in it, hidden by the physical symbol, the bright God, the Spiritual and Earthly Light. Such a belief can be considered as superstition only by the crudest materialism, which denies the Divinity, Spirit, Soul and does not allow reason outside the human mind

For occultists it [Light] is both Spirit and Matter. Behind the “type of motion”, now considered as a “property of matter” and nothing more, they see a radiant noumen. This is the "Spirit of Light", first-born from the Eternal pure Element, the energy or emanation of which is concentrated in the Sun, the great Life-Giver of the physical world, just as the hidden Hidden Spiritual Sun is the Giver of Light and Life in the Spiritual and Psychic kingdom.

The names of the seven rays [of the Sun] - Sushumna, Harikesha, Vishvakarman, Vishvatriarchas, Sannaddha, Sarvavasu and Swaraj - are all mystical, and each has its specific application in a specific state of consciousness for occult purposes. Sushumna, which, as stated in Nirukta (II, 6), serves only to illuminate the Moon, is, nevertheless, the ray beloved of all initiated Yogis. The totality of the seven rays scattered throughout the Solar System constitutes, so to speak, the physical Upadhi (base) of the Ether of science; in the Upadhi of which, light, heat, electricity, etc., i.e., the forces of orthodox science, enter into interactions to produce their earthly consequences. As psychic and spiritual phenomena, they proceed and have their origin in the super-solar Upadhi, that is, in the Ether of the occultist or Akasha.

Auguste Comte's pessimism about the possibility of future knowledge of the chemical composition of the Sun was not, as claimed, refuted thirty years later by Kirchhoff. The spectroscope helped to see that the elements with which the modern chemist is familiar should, in all likelihood, be present in the outer “Closets” of the Sun - not in the Sun itself; and, taking these “robes” that form the cosmic cover of the Sun for the Sun itself, physicists declared that it owes its light to combustion and flame and, mistakenly taking the life principle of this luminary for a purely material thing, they called it “chromosphere”. So far we have only hypotheses and theories, but in no case a law.

If ever this theory of the Solar Force, as the original cause of all life on earth and all movement in the heavens, is recognized, and if another, much bolder theory, Herschel's theory of certain organisms in the Sun, is accepted even as a temporary hypothesis, then our teachings will be justified, and it will be proven that Esoteric allegory was ahead of modern science, probably by millions of years, for such are the archaic Teachings. Martanda - The Sun guards and threatens his seven brothers planets, without leaving the central position to which he is exiled by his Mother Aditi. Comments say:

The fluids or emanations of the Sun give rise to all movements and awaken everything to life in the Solar System. This is attraction and repulsion, but not as it is understood by modern physicists or according to the law of gravity, but in accordance with the laws manvantaric movement, conceived from the time of the early Sandhya Dawn of new construction and higher transformation of the system. These laws are immutable, but the movement of all bodies - the movement of which is different and changes with each smaller Kalpa - is regulated by the Engines, the Minds, residing in the Soul of the Cosmos. Are we really so wrong in believing all this? Here is a great and modern scientist who, speaking about vital electricity, uses a language much closer to Occultism than to modern materialistic thought. We refer the skeptical reader to the article “The Source of Heat” by Robert Hunt, a member of the Cor. General, who, speaking about the brilliant shell of the Sun and its “strange appearance, like clots,” says the following:

“Arago proposed calling this shell the photosphere; this name is now accepted by everyone. Herschel the Elder compared the surface of this photosphere to mother-of-pearl... It resembles the ocean on a calm summer day, when its surface is slightly wrinkled by a light breeze... Nasmyth discovered a more remarkable condition than all those previously suspected... lenticular, strange figures... like "willow leaves"... of various sizes... and not grouped in order... intersecting in all directions.. ... and in an irregular movement among themselves... One can see how they approach and move away from each other and sometimes take on new angular positions, so that the appearance... was likened to a dense school of fish, which they really resemble in their shape... Size These figures give a majestic idea of ​​the gigantic scale on which physical (?) actions take place in the sun. They cannot be less than 1,000 miles in length, and from two to three hundred miles in width. The most probable of the assumptions made regarding these leaf- or lenticular-shaped figures is that the photosphere is a vast ocean of gaseous matter (what kind of “matter”?) ... in a state of intense (apparent) incandescence and that they are perspective ejections of streaks of flame.”

The solar "flames" seen through telescopes are reflections, says Occultism. But the reader already knows what the occultists say about this.

“Whatever (these flame streaks) are, it is obvious that they are direct sources of solar heat and light. Here we have a surrounding shell of photogenic matter, which performs pendulum-like movements with powerful energies and, communicating its movement to the etheric medium in stellar space, produces heat and light in distant worlds. We said that these forms were compared with certain organisms, and Herschel says: “Although it would be too bold to speak of such organisms as possessing life(why not?), nevertheless, we do not know whether the development of heat, light and electricity is characteristic of life action.” Could it be that there is truth in this subtle thought? Could the pulsation of vital matter in the central sun of our system be the source of all that life which covers the earth and, no doubt, extends to the other planets, of which the sun is a powerful Governor?

Occultism answers these questions in the affirmative, and science will soon recognize the truth of this.

Mr Hunt writes:

“But considering Life - the Life Force - as a power far more sublime than light, heat or electricity, and, in fact, capable of exerting a controlling force over them all (all this is absolutely occult) ... we are, of course, inclined to relate with sympathy for the consideration that presupposes that the photosphere is the main repository of vital power, and let us accept with poetic pleasure the hypothesis relating solar energies to Life.”

Thus we have important scientific support for one of our fundamental dogmas - namely, that (a) The Sun is the repository of the Life Force, which is the Numen of electricity; And (b), that it is from its hidden, eternally inaccessible depths that those vital currents emanate that vibrate in Space, as well as in the organisms of all living creatures on Earth. Let us see what another eminent physicist says, who calls it our vital fluid, the “Nervous Ether.” Change a few phrases in the article from which the following is excerpted, and you have another quasi-occult treatise on the Life Force. The same Dr. Richardson, member of the King. General further expresses his views on the “Nervous Ether”, as he expressed them on the “Solar Force” and on the “Earth Force”.

“The idea which this theory attempts to convey is that between the molecules of matter, solid or liquid, of which, in fact, all organic parts of the body are composed, there exists a very subtle medium, vaporous or gaseous, which holds the molecules in a condition that allows them to move among themselves and contribute to the arrangement and reconstruction of form; a medium through and through which all movements are transmitted and through which one organ or part of the body is kept in connection with other parts, through and through which the external, living world communicates with the living person; an environment which, by its presence, makes it possible to identify the phenomena of life, but in its general absence leaves the body truly dead.”

And the entire solar system flows into Pralaya - the author might add. But let's read further:

“I use the word Ether in its general sense, meaning very light, vaporous or gaseous matter; I use it, in short, as an astronomer does when he talks about the Ether of Space, wanting to convey the idea of ​​​​the subtlest, but material medium... When I talk about nervous ether, I do not want to make it clear that this ether exists only in nervous tissues; I truly believe that it is a special part of the nervous organization; but since the nerves pass into all tissues that have the capacity for movement and sensitivity, the nerve ether also passes into all such parts; and since the nervous ether, in my opinion, is a direct product of the blood, we can consider it as part of the atmosphere of the blood... The evidence speaks in favor of the existence of an elastic medium filling all nervous matter and having the ability to respond to the influence of simple pressure, quite convincing... In the nervous tissue, undoubtedly, there is a real, nervous fluid, as our predecessors taught. The exact chemical (?) composition of this fluid is still little known; its physical characteristics have been little studied. Whether it moves by currents, we do not know; whether it circulates, we do not know; whether it is formed in the centers and from them passes to the nerves, or whether it is formed wherever the blood enters the nerves, we do not know. Consequently, the exact purpose of the fluid is unknown to us. It occurs to me, however, that the real fluid of nervous matter is in itself insufficient to act as the subtlest medium that connects the outer world with the inner world of man and animal. I think - and this is the modification I want to make to the ancient theory - that there must be another kind of matter found during life; matter which exists in a state of vapor or gas, filling the entire nervous system of the body, surrounding, as if with an atmospheric membrane, every molecule of the nervous tissue, and serving as the mediator for all the movement communicated to the nerve centers and emanating from them... When the mind has become accustomed to thought, that during life in the animal body there exists the finest, dispersed matter, steam filling every part and even accumulating in some places; matter constantly renewed by vital chemistry; matter, as easily removed as the breath after it has fulfilled its purpose - then a new stream of light illuminates the mind."

A new stream of light, of course, is thrown by this upon the wisdom of ancient and medieval Occultism and its adherents. For Paracelsus wrote the same thing more than three hundred years ago, in the sixteenth century, in the following words:

"The entire microcosm is potentially contained in" Liquor Vitae", in the nervous fluid... which contains the nature, quality, character and essence of beings. " Archaeus"is a substance that is evenly distributed in all parts of the human body... Spiritus Vitae, originates from Spiritus Mundi being an emanation of the latter, it contains elements of all cosmic influences and therefore is the reason through which the influence of the stars (cosmic forces) on the invisible body of man (his life Linga Sharira)» .

If Dr. Richardson had studied all the hidden works of Paracelsus, he would not have to so often admit: “we don’t know” or “it’s unknown to us” and so on. Nor would he have written the following sentence, with which he refutes the best parts of his independent discovery.

“It can be argued that this new current of thought contains no more than a theory of the existence of an ether... which, according to the assumption, saturates space... We can say that this universal ether fills the entire organism of the animal body, as if from the outside and as part of any organization. This view would be a physically revealed Pantheism, if he were faithful(!!). But it cannot be true, for it would destroy the individuality of each individual feeling."

As the Commentary says:

it cannot be argued that the stars or the Sun consist of those earthly elements with which the chemist is familiar, although they are all found in the outer shells of the Sun - as well as many other elements still unknown to science.

First of all, they [astronomers] will have to abandon their ideas regarding the density and hotness of the Sun; for the Sun certainly “shines,” but does not “burn.” The occultists then assert regarding the "willow [647] leaves" that these "objects," as Herschel called them, are the immediate sources of sunlight and heat. And although the Esoteric Teaching does not consider them, as he does - namely, as “organisms” possessing the property of life, for solar “Beings” are unlikely to place themselves in the focus field of a telescope - nevertheless, it asserts that the entire Universe is full of similar “organisms,” conscious and active, according to the proximity or distance of their plans from our plane of consciousness; and finally, that the great astronomer was right when, in discussing these supposed “organisms,” he expressed that “we do not know, and cannot affirm, that vital action is incapable of developing simultaneously heat, light, and electricity.” For, at the risk of being ridiculed by the whole world of physicists, the occultists claim that all the “Forces” of scientists have their origin in the Life Principle, in the One collective Life of our Solar System - “Life”, which is part or, rather, one of the aspects of the One Universal LIFE.

The Secret Doctrine, Volume 2

The Seven - which have now become in the Christian religion the "Seven Eyes of God" - were the Rulers seven main planets; but their count was different from the enumeration invented later by peoples who had forgotten or did not have sufficient knowledge of the true Mysteries, and neither the Sun, nor the Moon, nor the Earth were included among these planets. Exoterically, the Sun was the head of the twelve great Gods or constellations of the Zodiac; but esoterically it meant the Messiah, the Christ - a being "anointed" by the Great Breath of the One - surrounded by the twelve forces subject to him, in turn subordinate to each of the seven "Hidden Gods" of the planets.

From the beginning of Cosmic Evolution to the Hindu year of Tarana or (1887) - 1,955,884,687 years.

Now the Vatican manuscript Kabbalah- the only copy of which (in Europe) is said to have belonged to the Count of St. Germain - contains the most complete exposition of the Doctrine, including the peculiar exposition adopted by the Luciferians and other Gnostics. And in this parchment the "Seven Suns of Life" are shown in the same order in which we find them in Saptasurya. However, only four of these are mentioned in those publications Kabbalah, which can be obtained in public libraries, and even then in more or less obscure expressions. Nevertheless, even this abbreviated number is completely sufficient to testify to the identity of the origin, for it refers to the fourfold group of Dhyan-Cohans and proves that this theory originated from the Secret Teachings of the Aryans. As is well known, Kabbalah did not arise among the Jews, for the latter received their ideas from the Chaldeans and Egyptians.

Thus even exoteric teachings Kabbalah speak of a "Central Sun" and three minor Suns in each Solar System - including ours. As shown in a skillful, if overly materialistic, work "New Aspects of Life and Religion" which is a synopsis of the views of Kabbalists in a deeply thought-out and learned aspect.

“The central sun... was for them [as well as for the Aryans] the center of Peace; the center to which all movement was ultimately to be reduced. Around this central sun... "the first of the three system suns... revolved on the polar plane"... the second, on the equatorial plane"... and only the third was our visible sun. These four solar bodies were organs on whose activity depends what man calls creation, the evolution of life on planet Earth. Kabbalists believed that the channels or paths through which the influence of these bodies was transmitted to the Earth were electrical... The radiant energy emanating from the central sun brought the Earth into existence in the form of a watery globe... [the attraction of which] as the nucleus of the planetary body was directed towards the [central] the sun... in the sphere of attraction of which it was born... But the radiant energy, equally electrifying both, kept them one from the other, and thus it changed the movement of aspiration towards the center of attraction into a movement around this center, which the rotating planet [Earth] was trying to achieve . In an organic cell visible sun found its natural womb and through it created the animal kingdom [having first developed the plant kingdom], finally placing man at its head, in which, thanks to the animating effect of this kingdom, it gave birth to a psychic cell. But man, thus placed at the head of the animal kingdom, at the head of creation, was animal man, devoid of soul, and a man crumbling… Consequently, man, although apparently the crown of creation, would mark the end of creation with his coming; for the creation that culminated in him would decline in the event of his death.”

This Kabbalistic worldview is given here to show its perfect identity in spirit with the Eastern Doctrine. Explain or supplement the doctrine of the Seven Suns with seven systems of Planes of Existence, the central bodies of which are the "Suns", and you have seven Angelic Planes, the "Army" of which are collectively their Gods. They are the Main Group, divided into four Classes, ranging from Ethereal in descending order to Semi-dense. These Classes are directly connected - although in very different ways, as far as arbitrary relations and functions are concerned - with our humanity. In the Kabbalistic doctrine just given they are three in number, synthesized by the fourth, the first and the highest, which is called the “Central Sun.” This is the great difference between Semitic and Aryan cosmogony - one materializes, humanizes the secrets of Nature; the other spiritualizes Matter, and its physiology is always subordinate to metaphysics. Thus, although the seventh "principle" reaches man through all phases of Being in the purity and indivisibility of the element and impersonal unity, it passes through - Kabbalah teaches, proceeds from– The Central Spiritual Sun and the Group of the Second, Polar Sun, and both of them radiate into man his Atma. The Third Group, the Equatorial Sun, cements Buddhi with the Atman and with the higher properties of Manas; while the Fourth Group, the Spirit of our Visible Sun, endows him with Manas and its vehicle Kama Rupa or the body of passions and desires - the two elements of Ahamkara which develop individualized consciousness, personal Ego. Finally, the Spirit of the Earth in its threefold unity composes the physical body, attracting the Spirits of Life to it and forming it Linga Sharira.

It is the Moon that is the leader of the Occult side of earthly Nature, while the Sun is the regulator and factor of manifested life. This truth has always been self-evident to Clairvoyants and Adepts.

The Secret Doctrine Volume 3

Contra solem no loquaris was not said by Pythagoras in relation to the visible Sun. What was meant was the "Sun of Initiation" in its triple form, two of which are the "Day Sun" and the "Night Sun".

If there was no mystery behind the physical luminary, which people instinctively felt, then why did all peoples, from primitive people to modern Parsis, turn to the Sun during their prayers? The Solar Trinity is not Mazdaian, it is universal and is as old as man. All temples of antiquity were invariably built facing the Sun, their portals open to the East. See the ancient temples of Memphis and Waalbek, the pyramids of the Old and New (?) Worlds, the Round Towers of Ireland, and the Serapium of Egypt. The Initiates alone could give a philosophical explanation and a rational reason for this - despite the mysticism of it - if the world were ready for it, which, alas! No. The last Sun Priest in Europe was the royal Initiate, Julian, now called the Apostate. He tried to benefit the world by revealing at least part of this great secret treplasioV and - he died.“There are three in one,” he said of the Sun—the central Sun being the precaution of Nature: the first is the universal cause of everything, the Supreme Good and perfection; The second Power is the supreme Mind, which has power over all rational beings, noeroiV; the third is the visible Sun. The pure energy of the solar mind emanates from the luminous throne occupied by our Sun in the center of the sky; this pure energy is the Logos of our system; “The Mysterious Spirit-Word creates everything through the Sun and never uses another mediator,” says Hermes Trismegistus. For precisely V The Sun, more than in any other celestial body, that (unknown) Power has placed the throne of its indwelling. Only neither Hermes Trismegistus, nor Julian (the dedicated occultist), or anyone else meant Jehovah or Jupiter by this Unknown Cause. They meant that cause which produced all the manifested "great Gods" or Demiurges (including the Jewish God) of our system. Also our visible material The Sun, for the latter was only a manifested symbol. The Pythagorean Philolaus explains and complements the words of Trismegistus, saying:

The sun is a mirror of fire, the brilliance of the flame of which, by reflection in that mirror (the Sun), pours on us, and we call this brilliance an image.

It is obvious that Philolaus is referring to the central spiritual Sun, whose rays and radiance are only reflected by our central Star, the Sun. This is as clear to the occultists as it was clear to the Pythagoreans. As for the profane people of pagan antiquity, then, of course, for them the “highest God” was the physical Sun, and, as it seems - if we accept the point of view of the Chevalier Drach - it has actually now become the same for modern Catholics. If words mean anything, then the statement of the Chevalier Drach that “this Sun is undoubtedly the second hypostasis of the Divinity” implies exactly what we say; for "this Sun" refers to the Kabbalistic Sun, and "hypostasis" signifies the essence or existence of the Deity or Trinity - clearly personal.

Socrates saluted the rising Sun, just as the true Parsis or Zoroastrians salute him in our day; both Homer and Euripides, as Plato did several times after them, mention Jupiter - the Logos, the “Word”, or the Sun.

Isis Unveiled

In subsequent chapters it will be proven that the ancient philosophers did not consider the sun to be the direct cause of light and heat, but only the intermediary of light through which it passes on its way to our sphere. Therefore, the Egyptians called the sun “the eye of Osiris,” who himself was Logos- The Firstborn or the light revealed to the world, the light “which is the mind and divine intelligence of the Unmanifested.” This is only the light that we know as the Demiurge, creator our planet and everything related to it. The solar gods have nothing to do with that invisible and unknown universe spread out in space. This idea is very clearly stated in Books of Hermes.

All solar gods, with their symbol, the visible sun, are only creators physical nature. Spiritual is the creation of the Highest God, the Hidden God, the Central, Spiritual SUN and his Demiurge - the divine mind of Plato and the divine wisdom of Hermes Trismegistus - the wisdom emanating from Ulom and Kronos.

“After the distribution of pure Fire in the Samothrace mysteries, a new life began” [ 150 ].

This was the “new birth” that Jesus alluded to in his nightly conversation with Nicodemus. “By being initiated into the most blessed of all mysteries, being ourselves pure, we become righteous and holy by wisdom.” " Blew, and says to them: Receive the Holy Spirit" [ John, XX, 22]. And this simple act of willpower was enough to bestow the gift of prophecy in its noblest and most perfect form, if both, i.e., the dedicator and the initiate, were worthy of it.

Light- the first thing mentioned when Creation, called by the Kabbalists Sephira, or divine intelligence, the mother of all sephiroth, while Unmanifested Wisdom there is a father. Light is the first manifestation and the first emanation of the Most High, and Light is Life, says the evangelist (and Kabbalist). Both are electricity - the life principle, Anima Mundi- filling the universe, the electric life-giver of all things. Light is the great magician Proteus, whose omnipotent and varied vibrations, by the divine command of the Architect, give birth to any form and any living creature; from his gaping womb is born matter And spirit. In its rays rest the origins of all physical and chemical actions and all cosmic and spiritual phenomena; he animates and disintegrates, he gives life and brings death, and from his point of origin, myriads of worlds, visible and invisible celestial bodies, gradually came into existence. From the ray of this First Mother, one in three, “God,” according to Plato, “kindled the fire which we call the Sun” [ 32 ], and which Not there is a cause of light or heat, but only a focus, or, one might say, a lens, through which the rays of the primordial light materialize and concentrate on our solar system and produce all the relationships of forces.

In the deceptive phenomenon of correlation of forces, even our greatest scientists have great difficulty in explaining which of these forces is the cause and which the effect, since each can change and alternately be one and the other. So if we asked physicists: “Does light generate heat, or does the latter produce light?” then, in all likelihood, we would receive the answer that it is, of course, light that gives heat. Great; but how? Does the Great Cause first create light, or does She first create the sun, which is considered the only source of light, and therefore heat? These questions may seem ignorant at first glance, but if we look deeper into them, they appear differently. The Book of Genesis says that “the Lord” first created light and three days and three nights passed until He created the sun, moon and stars. This is the greatest mistake, from the point of view accurate science, brought a lot of joy to materialists. They could laugh a lot if their doctrine that our light and heat come from the sun were inviolable. Until recently, nothing threatened this theory, which, for lack of a better one, in the words of the preacher, “selflessly reigns in the Empire of Hypotheses.” Ancient sun worshipers considered the Great Spirit as a nature god, identical with nature, and the sun as a deity “in whom resides the Lord of Life.” Gama is the sun, according to Hindu theology, and “the sun is the source of souls and all my life» [ 249 , I, 290]. Agni, the “divine fire,” the deity of the Hindus, is the sun, for fire and the sun are one. Ohrmazd is light, the Sun God or Life Giver. In Hindu philosophy, “souls are born from the world soul and return to it like sparks to fire.” And elsewhere it is said that "Sun is the soul of everything that exists, everything came from him and will return to him,” this means that the sun is meant here allegorically and this refers to central, to the invisible sun, to God, whose first manifestation is Sephira, the emanation of En-Soph, in short - Light.

If the limited scope of this work permits, we can easily show that none of the ancients, including the sun-worshippers, regarded our visible sun as anything other than an emblem of their invisible metaphysical sun-god. Moreover, they Not believed in what modern science teaches us, namely, that light and heat come from our the sun, and that this star gives life to all our visible nature.

“His radiance does not fade,” says the Rig Veda, “the intensely shining, all-pervading, imperishable, unfading rays of Agni, which do not cease either night or day.”

Apparently, this referred to the spiritual, central sun, whose rays are all-pervading and imperishable, being the eternal and limitless life-giver. HE is the point, the center, (which is everywhere) of the circle, (which is nowhere) eternal, the fire of the spirit, the soul and spirit of the all-pervading, mysterious ether, the despair and mystery of materialists who will one day understand that what makes numerous cosmic forces manifest in endless relationships is nothing other than divine electricity, or rather galvanism, and that the sun is only one of the myriads magnets, scattered in space - a reflector - as General Pleasonton called it. That there is no more warmth in the sun than in the moon, or in the hosts of sparkling stars that overflow space. What doesn't exist gravity, as Newton understood it, but only magnetic attraction and repulsion, and only thanks to their magnetism, the movement of the planets of the solar system in their orbits is regulated by the even more powerful magnetism of the sun, and not by their weight or gravity.

Kabbalistic heresies received unexpected support in the heterodox theories of General Pleasonton.

According to his opinions (which are supported by facts much more certain than those of orthodox scientists), the space between the sun and the earth should be filled with a material medium, which, so far as we can judge from his description, corresponds to our Kabbalistic astral light. The passage of light through this medium must create enormous friction. Friction generates electricity; it is this electricity and its correlative magnetism that create those terrible forces of nature that produce in, on and around our planet the various changes that we encounter everywhere. He proved that the earth's heat can not be directly extracted from the sun, for the heat rises. The force that acts on heat is reflective, he says, and since it is associated with positive electricity, it is attracted to the higher layers of the atmosphere with their negative electricity, which is always associated with cold, which is opposed to positive electricity. He strengthens his position by pointing out that the earth, when it is covered with snow and cannot be affected by the sun's rays, is warmest where the snow is deepest. He theoretically justifies this by the fact that heat radiation from outside the earth, being charged with positive electricity, encounters surfaces earth with snow, negatively charged, produces heat.

Thus, he proves that it is not the sun that we owe light and heat, that light is a creation sui generis, which appears and begins to exist at the moment when the deity wished and commanded: “Let there be light”; and that this is the independent material agent producing heat friction due to its enormous, endless speed. In short, this is the first Kabbalistic emanation with which General Pleasonton introduces us, that Sephira and divine wisdom(feminine principle), which combined with En-Soph, the divine mind (masculine principle), creates everything visible and invisible. He laughs at the popular theory of the hot sun and its gaseous state. Reflection from the solar photosphere, he says, passing through planetary and stellar space, must thus create enormous reserves of electricity and magnetism. Electricity, by the union of its opposite polarities, gives off heat and imparts magnetism to any substance capable of receiving it. The sun, planets, stars, nebulae - everything is magnets, etc...

It appears that Tyndall suffered from a terrible fever when descending from Mont Blanc, although he was knee-deep in snow at the time. The professor attributed this to the burning rays of the sun, but Pleasonton insists that if the rays of the sun were as intense as described, the snow would have melted, but this did not happen; he deduces that the fever from which the professor was suffering came from his own body and was the result of the electrical action of sunlight on his dark woolen clothing, which was charged with positive electricity from his body. The cold, dry ether of planetary space and the upper layers of the earth's atmosphere are charged with negative electricity and, falling on his warm body and clothes, charged positively, developed increased heat.

The closest star to us is, of course, the Sun. The distance from the Earth to it, according to cosmic parameters, is very small: sunlight travels from the Sun to the Earth in only 8 minutes.

The Sun is not an ordinary yellow dwarf, as previously thought. This is the central body of the solar system, around which the planets revolve, with a large number of heavy elements. This is a star formed after several supernova explosions, around which a planetary system was formed. Due to its location close to ideal conditions, life arose on the third planet Earth. The Sun is already five billion years old. But let's figure out why it shines? What is the structure of the Sun and what are its characteristics? What does the future hold for him? How significant an impact does it have on the Earth and its inhabitants? The Sun is a star around which all 9 planets of the solar system, including ours, revolve. 1 a.u. (astronomical unit) = 150 million km - the same is the average distance from the Earth to the Sun. The Solar System includes nine major planets, about a hundred satellites, many comets, tens of thousands of asteroids (minor planets), meteoroids, and interplanetary gas and dust. At the center of it all is our Sun.

The sun has been shining for millions of years, which is confirmed by modern biological research obtained from the remains of blue-green-blue algae. If the temperature of the surface of the Sun changed by even 10%, all life on Earth would die. Therefore, it is good that our star evenly radiates the energy necessary for the prosperity of humanity and other creatures on Earth. In the religions and myths of the peoples of the world, the Sun has always occupied the main place. For almost all peoples of antiquity, the Sun was the most important deity: Helios - among the ancient Greeks, Ra - the sun god of the ancient Egyptians and Yarilo among the Slavs. The sun brought warmth, harvest, everyone revered it, because without it there would be no life on Earth. The size of the Sun is impressive. For example, the mass of the Sun is 330,000 times the mass of the Earth, and its radius is 109 times greater. But the density of our star is small - 1.4 times greater than the density of water. The movement of spots on the surface was noticed by Galileo Galilei himself, thus proving that the Sun does not stand still, but rotates.

Convective zone of the Sun

The radioactive zone is about 2/3 of the internal diameter of the Sun, and the radius is about 140 thousand km. Moving away from the center, photons lose their energy under the influence of collision. This phenomenon is called the convection phenomenon. This is reminiscent of the process that occurs in a boiling kettle: the energy coming from the heating element is much greater than the amount that is removed by conduction. Hot water close to the fire rises, and colder water sinks. This process is called convention. The meaning of convection is that denser gas is distributed over the surface, cools and again goes to the center. The mixing process in the convective zone of the Sun is carried out continuously. Looking through a telescope at the surface of the Sun, you can see its granular structure - granulations. It feels like it's made of granules! This is due to convection occurring beneath the photosphere.

Photosphere of the Sun

A thin layer (400 km) - the photosphere of the Sun, is located directly behind the convective zone and represents the “real solar surface” visible from Earth. Granules in the photosphere were first photographed by the Frenchman Janssen in 1885. The average granule has a size of 1000 km, moves at a speed of 1 km/sec and exists for approximately 15 minutes. Dark formations in the photosphere can be observed in the equatorial part, and then they shift. Strong magnetic fields are a distinctive feature of such spots. And the dark color is obtained due to the lower temperature relative to the surrounding photosphere.

Chromosphere of the Sun

The solar chromosphere (colored sphere) is a dense layer (10,000 km) of the solar atmosphere that lies directly behind the photosphere. The chromosphere is quite problematic to observe due to its close location to the photosphere. It is best seen when the Moon covers the photosphere, i.e. during solar eclipses.

Solar prominences are huge emissions of hydrogen, resembling long luminous filaments. The prominences rise to enormous distances, reaching the diameter of the Sun (1.4 mm km), move at a speed of about 300 km/sec, and the temperature reaches 10,000 degrees.

The solar corona is the outer and extended layers of the Sun's atmosphere, originating above the chromosphere. The length of the solar corona is very long and reaches values ​​of several solar diameters. Scientists have not yet received a clear answer to the question of where exactly it ends.

The composition of the solar corona is a rarefied, highly ionized plasma. It contains heavy ions, electrons with a helium core, and protons. The temperature of the corona reaches from 1 to 2 million degrees K, relative to the surface of the Sun.

The solar wind is a continuous outflow of matter (plasma) from the outer shell of the solar atmosphere. It consists of protons, atomic nuclei and electrons. The speed of the solar wind can vary from 300 km/sec to 1500 km/sec, in accordance with the processes occurring on the Sun. The solar wind spreads throughout the solar system and, interacting with the Earth's magnetic field, causes various phenomena, one of which is the northern lights.

Characteristics of the Sun

Mass of the Sun: 2∙1030 kg (332,946 Earth masses)
Diameter: 1,392,000 km
Radius: 696,000 km
Average density: 1,400 kg/m3
Axis tilt: 7.25° (relative to the ecliptic plane)
Surface temperature: 5,780 K
Temperature at the center of the Sun: 15 million degrees
Spectral class: G2 V
Average distance from Earth: 150 million km
Age: 5 billion years
Rotation period: 25.380 days
Luminosity: 3.86∙1026 W
Apparent magnitude: 26.75m

The Sun is an ordinary star, its age is about 5 billion years. On the surface of the Sun the temperature is approximately 5500°C, but at its center it reaches 14 million degrees. In the solar core, hydrogen is converted into helium, releasing enormous amounts of energy. There are spots on the surface of the Sun, bright flashes occur and explosions of colossal force can be seen.

The sun gives the Earth heat and light, which support life on our planet. For plants, sunlight provides the energy they need to grow. Fossil fuels, such as coal, are a form of solar anergy that is stored away because the carbon it contains was once stored by plants.

For astronomers, the Sun is a special nest because it is so close - only 150 million km away. However, to cover such a distance by car would take almost 200 years, so the path to our home star is very long. A spacecraft flying in a straight line would spend many months traveling to the Sun. Light, which travels through space faster than anything else, travels from the Sun to the Earth in just over eight minutes. Proxima Centauri, the next closest star to us, is a quarter of a million times farther away.

We know much more about the Sun than about any other star, simply because it is so close. Some large observatories have telescopes specifically designed to study the Sun. Astronomers want to know what processes occur on the Sun and how it affects the Earth. This will give us an idea of ​​most other ordinary stars.

Some scientists believe that any change in solar energy production will inevitably lead to climate change here on Earth. Therefore, solar astronomy is important both for studying the stars and for predicting how the Sun will influence our environment in the future.

Surface

The Sun is a fiery ball of gas whose diameter is approximately 109 times the diameter of the Earth. More than a million Earth-sized celestial bodies could fit inside the Sun. The yellow light of the Sun comes to us from a layer of the solar atmosphere, which is 500 km thick and is called the photosphere. Below it lie the inner regions of the Sun, and above are the transparent parts of the outer atmosphere. Almost all solar energy, including heat and light falling on the Earth, comes to us from the photosphere, but is initially produced in the depths of the Sun.

The temperature of the photosphere is approximately 5500°C. One way to calculate this temperature is to estimate how hot the Sun would have to be to emit all the energy it actually gives off.

The surface of the Sun is bubbly. These bubbles, or foam, are called solar speckles, and can only be seen through solar telescopes. This bubbling is similar to that which occurs with boiled milk or meat sauce. Thanks to convection in the solar atmosphere, thermal energy from the lower layers is transferred to the photosphere, giving it a foamy structure.

In the 1960s Astronomers have discovered that the upper layer of the atmosphere rises and falls approximately once every five minutes. So the Sun seems to vibrate, like a ringing bell. By studying these vibrations, astronomers hope to learn what the interior of the solar globe is like.

Solar Activity

The sun does not rotate like a solid celestial body like the Earth. Unlike the Earth, different parts of the Sun rotate at different speeds. The equator rotates the fastest, making one revolution every 25 days. As you move away from the equator, the rotation speed decreases, and in the polar regions one revolution takes 35 days. Different rotation rates are possible only because the Sun is a ball of gas. One consequence is the twisting of the Sun's magnetic field, which increases solar activity.

Sunspots are just one example of solar activity. “Weather phenomena” in the solar atmosphere are completely different from those on Earth. Magnetic storms and explosions called flares suddenly rise above the surface of the Sun. In some respects they resemble terrestrial thunderstorms in that they release electrical energy. However, the energy of giant electrical discharges on the Sun is much greater than the energy of earthly lightning. Solar storms have an impact on the Earth, so astronomers keep the Sun under constant observation. Solar flares blast electrically charged particles into space, which have surprising effects on our atmosphere.

Polar Lights

When streams of electrically charged particles generated by solar flares reach the Earth, they create amazing “curtains” of flickering light in our skies, which are visible in the polar regions and sprinkled with auroras. The dancing flashes of the auroras are very beautiful, but powerful explosions from the Sun also pose a certain danger. Within a few seconds, they emit more energy than all the earth's power plants produced during their entire existence. The giant solar storm of 1987 cost Americans $100 million and destroyed the power supply system in North America. Streams of electrically charged particles flying from the Sun disable power plants, destroying their equipment. Solar flares are also dangerous for astronauts: you should not go into outer space when they occur. Particles emitted by the flash and carrying high energy can harm the human body.

The occurrence of the aurora is unpredictable and therefore quite difficult to observe. It can take the form of arcs, rays and curtains of light in the sky, and these patterns are never repeated. It is very important that there be no moon; In addition, the aurora is much more likely to be seen at extreme northern or southern latitudes - for example, in Scotland, Nova Scotia (a Canadian province) and Alaska - in the northern hemisphere, or on the South Island of New Zealand - in the southern hemisphere.

Solar cycle

The number of sunspots that can be seen varies over time. In 1989-1990 there were a lot of them, since this period was the peak of the solar activity cycle. On average, the number of sunspots peaks every 11 years. In the next rally, the density of spots will be greatest around 2000 or 2001. In the mid-1990s. There will be relatively few sunspots.

The cycle of sunspot activity, however, appears to be directly related4 to the climate on Earth. In some trees, for example, the thickness of the annual rings also has an 11-year cycle. Between 1650 -1715 There were practically no spots on the Sun, the solar cycle seemed to have completely disappeared. This corresponds to a period of exceptionally cold weather in Europe.

To test the impact of the 11-year solar cycle on our climate, a special instrument was installed on the satellite that measured the amount of energy produced by the Sun over the period 1980-1989. Every time a large sunspot appeared on the Sun, the amount of energy emitted by the Sun dropped. In the 1990s. new series of observations from spacecraft are being carried out. Scientists hope these measurements will help answer the question of whether changes in solar activity have long-term effects on Earth - say, whether they contribute to global warming on our planet.

Outer layers of the Sun

Solar eclipses make it possible to see those layers of the Sun's atmosphere that lie above the photosphere. A ring of pinkish light comes from the chromosphere, whose temperature is about 15,000 "C. During a total eclipse, a faint white halo, the solar corona, can be seen around the Sun. In reality, it extends to a distance of several radii of the Sun. Near the Sun, its temperature reaches 2 million degrees. Hot The corona emits very little light, but it emits very powerful X-rays. For research, X-ray telescopes are installed on near-Earth satellites. Computers are used to build color images of the areas that emit X-rays. This is why we know that the bright areas of the corona have temperatures above 1 million degrees.The cooler parts of the corona appear as black holes, through which particles such as electrons can escape into space.

Magnetic shell of the Earth

The Earth's magnetic field deflects most of the solar wind, preventing it from directly bombarding our planet with particles. In fact, the Earth's magnetic forces create an invisible protective shell that the solar wind flows around like a river flows around an island. Other planets with magnetic fields, such as Mercury and Jupiter, also have invisible barriers to the solar wind. If we talk about Earth, here some electrically charged particles can still penetrate the magnetic shell.

In the depths of the sun

Until the 20th century, scientists imagined the Sun as a blazing fireball. In 1892, a book claimed that the Sun is a powerful night of heat and fire. According to another theory that existed in the 19th century, the sun burns thanks to meteorites falling on it. Both of these ideas are wrong. Our current knowledge suggests that a solar oven is a huge nuclear reactor.

To better understand the structure of a solar furnace, imagine a yellow surface layer for the pachala, where the temperature is four rals higher than the melting point of iron. At this temperature, any substance evaporates, so the entire Sun is a huge ball of hot gas.

How long will the Sun last?

Every second, the Sun processes about 600 million tons of hydrogen, producing about 4 million tons of helium. Comparing this speed with the mass of the Sun, the question arises: how long will our star last?

It is clear that the Sun will not exist forever, although it has an incredibly long life ahead of it. It is now in middle age. It takes Peto Union 5 billion years to process half of its hydrogen fuel. In the coming years, the Sun will slowly warm up and increase slightly in size. Over the next 5 billion years, its temperature and volume will gradually increase as hydrogen burns. When all the hydrogen in the central core is used up, the Sun will be three times larger than it is now. All the oceans on Earth will boil away. The dying Sun will consume the Earth and turn solid rock into molten lava.

Deep in the Sun, helium nuclei will combine to form nuclei of carbon and heavier substances. Eventually the Sun will cool, becoming a ball of nuclear waste, a so-called white dwarf.