How do astronomers observe the Sun's interior?
How do astronomers see the inside of the sun when they can't even go near the sun at all? You know when they show the core of the sun, the photosphere of the sun and etc. how could they see that? They can't even get a good picture of Mercury since it is so near the sun and since they can't get a good picture of Mercury then how could they get a picture of the sun?
We cannot see inside the Sun. We can only observe the surface. What's known about the Sun's interior comes from models that use the laws of physics to predict the internal conditions. There are a number of different observations (such as vibrations on the Sun's surface, detections of solar neutrinos, and measurements of elemental abundances on the surface) that allow astronomers to test and refine these models.
Regarding how the Sun can hinder one's ability to observe Mercury: That's actually a somewhat different situation. In that case, the problem is that the light from the overwhelmingly bright Sun can drown out the light of what you're trying to observe (Mercury). But if the Sun is what you're trying to observe, then all that light is actually a *good* thing.
Still Curious?
Get More 'Curious?' with Our New PODCAST:
- Podcast? Subscribe? Tell me about the Ask an Astronomer Podcast
- Subscribe to our Podcast | Listen to our current Episode
- Cool! But I can't now. Send me a quick reminder now for later.
Related questions:
- Is there sound coming from the Sun?
- How do we know that nuclear fusion is still going on in the Sun?
- Does the Sun have an iron surface?
More questions about The Sun: Previous | Next
How to ask a question:
If you have a follow-up question concerning the above subject, submit it here. If you have a question about another area of astronomy, find the topic you're interested in from the archive on our site menu, or go here for help.
Main Page | About Us | For Teachers | Astronomy Links | Ask a Question | View a Random Question | Our Podcast
URL: http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=429
This page has been accessed 18925 times since December 14, 2002.
Last modified: June 4, 2003 9:26:54 PM
Ask an Astronomer is hosted by the Astronomy Department at Cornell University and is produced with PHP and MySQL.
Warning: Your browser is misbehaving! This page might look ugly. (Details)