PHOTOSPHERE · VISIBLE SURFACE
≈ 5,778 K
AVERAGE TEMPERATURE
≈ 500 km
APPROX. THICKNESS
VISIBLE LIGHT
MAIN RADIATION WE SEE
GRANULATION
PLASMA STRUCTURE
SUNSPOTS
MAGNETIC ACTIVITY
WHAT IS THE PHOTOSPHERE?
The photosphere is the layer that we
normally see when we look at the Sun
through properly protected solar
observing equipment.
It is not a solid surface. The Sun is
made of plasma, so the photosphere is
simply the depth from which most of the
visible sunlight escaping the Sun
originates.
Its temperature is roughly 5,778 K
(about 5,500 °C).
The photosphere is also where many of
the Sun's most recognizable features
can be observed, including sunspots
and granulation.
✦
GRANULATION
Millions of convection cells appear
as bright and dark patterns across
the solar surface.
Each granule is typically around
1,000 km across.
●
SUNSPOTS
Dark regions caused by intense
magnetic fields that inhibit
convection and make the area cooler
than its surroundings.
↗
SUNLIGHT
The photons that reach Earth have
escaped through the photosphere and
then travelled across space.
CORE
RADIATIVE ZONE
CONVECTIVE ZONE
PHOTOSPHERE
DID YOU KNOW?
The photosphere is only about
500 km thick — tiny compared
with the Sun's enormous radius of about
696,000 km.