• Question: how hot is the sun

    Asked by fakebob to Carol, Ellie, John, Philip, Rebecca on 24 Jun 2012. This question was also asked by crazybeanz.
    • Photo: John Welford

      John Welford answered on 24 Jun 2012:

      Very hot! I know the temperature varies from the very centre (hottest) out to the edges.

      Doing some research (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun) it is over 5500 °C at the surface and over 15 million °C at the middle.

      Obviously no-one has ever been there with a thermometer to measure the temperature, so how do you think scientists know this?

    • Photo: Carol White

      Carol White answered on 27 Jun 2012:

      Yep, like the Earth, it’s hotter at the centre! I couldn’t find any better numbers than John’s so I guess scientists have made an approximation! I wonder how they did it though….

    • Photo: Philip Glasson

      Philip Glasson answered on 27 Jun 2012:

      You can work out how much stuff is in the sun by how much its gravity pulls us.
      .
      We know how big it is by looking at it and knowing how far away it is.
      .
      The temperature of the inside of the sun actually determines how big it is, (hotter-bigger)(cooler-smaller)
      So if you know how big it is…….and how much stuff is in it…..you can work out how hot it would have to be!!

      temperature of the out side of the sun is a different story….. =D

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