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From: pmk@prometheus.UUCP (Paul M Koloc)
Newsgroups: sci.astro
Subject: Re: StarDate: October 27 The Amazing Sun
Message-ID: <300@prometheus.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 29-Oct-86 14:27:30 EST
Article-I.D.: promethe.300
Posted: Wed Oct 29 14:27:30 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 30-Oct-86 23:50:04 EST
References: <1363@utastro.UUCP>
Reply-To: pmk@prometheus.UUCP (Paul M Koloc)
Organization: Prometheus II, Ltd., College Park, MD 20740-0222
Lines: 42

In article <1363@utastro.UUCP> dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) writes:
>How the sun makes energy -- in a minute.
>October 27  The Amazing Sun
>
>The sun is a star because it shines, or produces its own energy.  And
>the sun is able to shine because of thermonuclear fusion reactions
>taking place deep in its interior. .... .    Fusion is where light 
>atoms fuse together under conditions of high temperature and pressure 
>-- like those at the center of the sun.
>
>With fusion, four atoms of the lightest and simplest element, hydrogen,
>fuse to make a slightly different element, helium.  But one helium atom
>is slightly less massive than the four hydrogen atoms which built the
>helium atom.  This leftover mass is converted to energy which later
>floods out from the sun in the familiar form of light and heat.

There are additional "particles" generated by the fusion reaction
itself, called neutrinos, and these "slippery little buggers" flit 
through the sun's dense plasma almost as easily as if they were moving 
through a vacuum. 

Most other forms of ... . 

>Energy flowing from the sun's core to its surface takes about 10
>million years.  If the sun's energy production suddenly ceased, we
>wouldn't know it until 10 million years from now.

Almost true!. We are keeping track of the the neutrinos, and
it's a good thing too,  apparently someone left the burner on
simmer, 'cause we are only picking of half of what we should be
finding.  Of course, as Debbie points out, by the time the lights
are dimmed at the surface of the sun, we should have talked DoE-DoE
out of the money needed to development a fusion concept that will
really work. 

That "half" came from a "long time ago", so correct me if I'm wrong!

+---------------------------------------------------------+--------+
| Paul M. Koloc, President: (301) 445-1075                | FUSION |
| Prometheus II, Ltd.; College Park, MD 20740-0222        |  this  |
| {umcp-cs | seismo}!prometheus!pmk; pmk@prometheus.UUCP  | decade |
+---------------------------------------------------------+--------+