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Questions tagged [sun]

The Sun is an almost perfectly symmetric yellow dwarf star [spectral class G2V] which is at the center of our Solar System.

789 questions
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Is it safe to observe the sun through binoculars with welding glass in front?

I asked this on Reddit but didn't get much of a response. So here goes! I'm looking for low-cost ways to observe the Transit of Venus this summer. Since I'll only be able to see a few hours of it from my location, and it very well may be cloudy, I…
dmahr
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Is there a way to create an artificial solar eclipse?

I heard this story, where they celebrated the birthday of the now defunct North Korean dictator Kim Il-sung in the 1970s and as a birthday present they created through some very complex artillery maneuvers an artificial total solar eclipse over…
Count Zero
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Why is the sun so dense?

Looking at the radius and mass of stars on Wikipedia, I see that the Sun is the densest of all, often many times denser than other stars. Is that because only non-dense starts are easily seen from a distance? Are there any stars of comparable…
dotancohen
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A question once confused Confucius

A well known story "Two Children arguing about the sun" (From Lie Zi, ca. 500BC): On the way traveling to the east, Confucius saw two children were arguing. One child thought that the sun is nearer to us at daybreak and far away from us at…
Ma Ming
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Does the sun cross over a given meridian line every day at the same time?

Let's say I have an imaginary meridian line over new york going from north to south. I know that the sun will not always be exactly on top of my head here in New York, but every day it will have to cross somewhere on top of this imaginary line. Does…
Shrage Smilowitz
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Can CMEs disturb a planet orbit?

Yesterday (March 6), a massive X-class solar flare erupted from the Sun. I was wondering if this kind of solar flares can affect in some way the orbit of a planet if aimed directly. Let's say, for example, Mercury. Can this happen at all?
César
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What is the weekly average of coronal mass ejections the sun sends out?

What is the average number of coronal mass ejections that the sun sends out each week, including those that are not directed towards Earth?
InquilineKea
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Equation for calculating the Sun's position

SunPosition Calculator calculates the Sun's postion based on the location and time. What is the equation used for such a calculation?
Mina Samy
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daylight length variation from year to year

I am doing some calculations to see how many hours of light does a specific location (identified by latitude and longitude) has in a specific day of the year. Contrary to my expectations I get a slight variance for different years. See the data…
Elzo Valugi
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Can I determine whether it is night at a location by calculating only the sun's elevation?

There are many formulas for determining sunrise and sunset times for locations, but for my application I only need to know if it is day or night (given a time, latitude and longitude). After studying the terms azimuth, altitude/elevation, and…
JYelton
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calculating the solar declination

I was looking at this page http://www.illustratingshadows.com/www-formulae-collection.pdf and found the equation used for estimating the solar declination (sun declination). One problem, though, I wish to cite this equation in my work and was hoping…
KatyB
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Is it possible to land on sun?

The Sun is, of course, quite hot. A space probe built by normal materials probably would melt or burn even it’s still quite far from the Sun. However, from a theory point of view, is it possible to build a space probe that could land on the Sun?
athos
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How much of the Earth would a spoonful of the Sun scorch?

How much of the Earth would a spoonful of the Sun scorch if held at ground level? I basically would like to conceptualize the heat of the Sun on a smaller scale, please.
Mr. Skeptical
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How the sun can burn that long?

I suddenly became curious that why the sun doesn't burn out at once? What makes the sun burn gradually?
Genie
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Sunspots and brightness

I tried to look up some facts regarding sunspots and its relation between the brightness of the sun, only to find information that are intriguing yet not what I am looking for. My understanding is that sunspots are darker compared to the brightness…
hyg17
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