FUSION POWER SUN

Our local star pumps out vast amounts of heat and light, which supports all life on Earth. But where does it come from, and just what happens to it on its journey through the Sun?

The Sun is a huge ball of blazing gas, with a visible surface roughly 1.4 million kilometres (870,000 miles) across. In a single second it pumps out energy equivalent to what could be generated by 2 billion large Earth power stations in a year, making use of a process that scientists have only been able to harness for a fraction of a second in Earth-based laboratories: nuclear fusion. Fusion is the process of joining together the atomic nuclei of light elements to build the nuclei of heavier ones. All atoms consist of a nucleus (a tiny, positively charged core that accounts for the vast majority of their mass) surrounded by a cloud of orbiting electrons (lightweight, negatively charged particles). In comparison to the entire atom, the nucleus is about the…

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All About Space Book of the Solar System (Digital) - 1 Issue, All About Space Book Of The Solar System 4th Edition

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