What are the 2 major gases in the sun?
The Sun Steven Dutch, Natural and Applied Sciences, University of Wisconsin – Green Bay In many ways the Sun is an ideal star to have nearby. Its steady energy output creates a stable environment for life on earth. For the astronomer, the Sun is as typical an example of a star as one could hope for. The Outer Layers of the Sun The Sun has three visible layers. The bright surface we can see is the innermost layer, the photosphere. The photosphere looks sharply-defined, but actually the Sun has no solid surface. Deep in the Sun electrons are torn free from atoms and these electrons absorb photons of light before they can get very far. We see down into the Sun to the level where its gases become opaque, a distance of about 200 miles (300 km). This distance is negligible compared to the Sun’s diameter of 864,000 miles (1.3 million km), so the Sun appears to have a very sharp outline. The surface temperature of the Sun is about 5,500 c (9000 f). Above the photosphere is the chromosphere, ab
