Led by Galileo Galilei
About this course
The tenth module of the Edexcel GCSE Astronomy course turns the telescope safely on the Sun. The student learns the two safe observation methods, builds up the layered structure of the Sun from the fusion-driven core through the photosphere to the chromosphere and corona, writes down the proton-proton chain that powers it, uses sunspot motion to derive the solar rotation period, identifies the eleven-year solar cycle from sunspot data, and traces the solar wind out to the heliopause.
It is led by Galileo Galilei, whose 1612 Letters on Sunspots established that the solar surface is mutable and that sunspot motion permits the first determination of the solar rotation period. The methodology has scaled, but the principle is the same.
The student leaves the module able to use both safe solar observation methods, describe the Sun's seven internal and atmospheric layers, write the proton-proton chain, derive the solar rotation period from sunspot data, identify the eleven-year cycle, and describe the solar wind.
Led by Galileo Galilei
The question
How does the student safely observe the Sun, what is its layered internal structure and how does fusion in the core ultimately produce sunlight at the surface, what do sunspots tell us about solar rotation and the eleven-year cycle, and how does the solar wind shape the heliosphere all the way to the heliopause? The spec asks the student to use telescopic projection and H-alpha filtering, name and locate the core, radiative zone, convective zone, photosphere, chromosphere, and corona, write down the proton-proton chain, derive solar rotation from sunspot motion, work with the solar cycle, account for the Sun's different appearance across the electromagnetic spectrum, and describe the nature, composition, and origin of the solar wind.
Outcome
the student can use both safe solar observation methods, describe the seven layers of the Sun's interior and atmosphere with their relative temperatures, write the proton-proton chain and state its energy yield, describe the structure and origin of sunspots, use sunspot data to derive the mean solar rotation period and identify the eleven-year solar cycle, account for the Sun's different appearance across the electromagnetic spectrum, and describe the nature, composition, and origin of the solar wind. *(Edexcel 1AS0 Paper 2 — Topic 10, spec points 10.1–10.10)*
Sub-units