2 ms·
I'm no physicist but this is weird to me; it implies that the sun's light originates at the core, instead of for example the glowing plasma at the surface. Or i
by Cthulhu_ 2y ago
I'm no physicist but this is weird to me; it implies that the sun's light originates at the core, instead of for example the glowing plasma at the surface. Or is it in addition to? That is, photons originate all throughout the mass of the sun, some of which bounce around for 100K years before coming out at the surface?
- elcomet 2y agoYes it is both, photons are emitted everywhere in the sun. The photons emitted on the surface will come directly to us, but those emitted in the core will take thousands of years to get out.
- foobarian 2y agoBut... if the process of "taking thousands of years to get out" involves getting absorbed and re-emitted a whole bunch of times, doesn't that mean it's not the same photon any more? So technically only the surface photons come directly to us?
- elcomet 2y agoyeah this is simplified a lot. What it truly means is that some of the energy emitted at the core takes thousands of years to get "out". The energy is converted multiple times, getting released as photons, then absorbed again, etc. https://www.askamathematician.com/2013/08/q-why-does-it-take-thousands-of-years-for-light-to-escape-the-sun/ https://www.askamathematician.com/2013/08/q-why-does-it-take...
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]