Astronomy › Section K · The Sun › Topic K.6
The solar interior: theory and observation
No telescope can see into the Sun, yet astronomers can describe its core in detail. Physics tells them what the interior must be like, and two clever probes, the Sun's own vibrations and the neutrinos from its core, test that picture.
In this topic
- Seeing what cannot be seen
- Balanced against its own weight
- Why the Sun is not cooling down
- Moving energy outward
- Worked example: photons versus neutrinos
- The standard solar model
- Helioseismology: the Sun rings like a bell
- Worked example: how many solar neutrinos?
- The solar neutrino problem
- Solved: neutrinos change type
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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