The Sun: A Ball of Nuclear Fusion Hotter Than Any Fire on Earth, Explained

The Sun is a ball of nuclear fusion that is astronomically hotter than any fire on Earth. (Photo: NASA)

JAKARTA – Is it true that outer space is vacuum? If so, then how can the sun burn, while fire requires oxygen.

The sun, as observed by ancient astronomers such as Anaxagoras, has a fiery nature. This conclusion is confirmed by modern, high-resolution images courtesy of NASA, the sun shining and pulsating like a ball of fire.

Reporting from Mymodernmet, Saturday (3/2/2024), scientists explained that the Sun is actually a ball of nuclear fusion which is astronomically hotter than any fire on Earth, so the conditions for its existence are different.

Even though there is no air, space still has a little oxygen. The oxygen molecule is known as O2, because it consists of two oxygen atoms bonded together. This is molecular oxygen on Earth. There are rare traces of it in space, but because oxygen atoms adhere tightly to stardust, it prevents them from combining to form oxygen molecules.

Interestingly, breathable oxygen like on Earth was created as a result of the Big Bang. Nuclear fusion inside young stars produces oxygen as we know it.

Fire requires oxygen to burn, at least 16 percent of the atmosphere. But the lack of oxygen does not affect the Sun because the Sun does not actually burn, in the sense of burning on Earth.

In contrast, the Sun has continuous nuclear fusion reactions. Large amounts of hydrogen and helium at extreme temperatures and pressures react to produce light and heat. In a fusion reaction, two light nuclei combine to form one heavier nucleus.

This process releases energy because the total mass of the resulting single nucleus is less than the mass of the two original nuclei. The remaining mass becomes energy. This energy travels as radiation to Earth, interacting with atoms in Earth’s atmosphere to create heat. That’s it The sun is burning in oxygen-deficient regions of space.

(msf)

2024-02-03 06:42:41
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