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  • 7/4/2025
What’s really inside the Sun… and how do we know?? Turns out, like scientists learn what’s inside the Earth with waves from earthquakes, one way we learn what’s inside the Sun with… sound waves! We can also look at the light coming from the sun Because when light from the Sun’s inner layers passes through outer ones, some wavelengths get absorbed by specific elements… which we can read like a bar code… And the Sun is constantly blasting out tiny particles called neutrinos from the nuclear fusion in the Sun’s core… and by detecting them, we can get a direct peek at what’s happening in there… as of a little over 8 minutes ago! For more optimistic science and tech stories, subscribe! #sun #animation #howstuffworks #science #historyfacts

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Learning
Transcript
00:00Look at this. These are all the layers inside the sun.
00:03But how do we know that?
00:04Turns out that like we learn what's inside the earth using waves from earthquakes,
00:08we learn what's inside the sun using sound waves.
00:12It's called helioseismology.
00:14Basically, the violent reactions happening inside the sun can create sounds
00:18that can create physical ripples on the surface.
00:21And these can tell us the motion of the interior, the density, the layer temperature, and more.
00:25We can also use the light from the sun because when the light from the sun's inner layers
00:28it tries to get out past the other ones.
00:30Some wavelengths get absorbed by specific elements,
00:33and we can read that like a barcode to tell us what chemicals are inside
00:38and also how hot the surface is,
00:39which gives us clues that then help us model the layers needed to produce that energy.
00:43And the sun is constantly blasting out little particles called neutrinos
00:46from the fusion happening in the sun's core.
00:48And by detecting them, we can get a direct peek at what's happening in there.
00:51If you like optimistic science and tech stories, subscribe.

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