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Last Post 3/24/2021 1:51 PM by  KD Leka
How do we study the sun?
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Elin
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3/24/2021 11:20 AM
    How do we study the sun if we can't get too close to it?
    KD Leka
    Basic Member
    Posts:115 Basic Member

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    3/24/2021 1:49 PM
    Hi;
    For the most part, we use the light that the Sun shines to study it, just like telescopes use the light from stars to study them. When we spread the light out and just look at tiny parts of it with high detail (looking at the spectrum, like what you might see when sunlight goes through a prism or crystal, but in much much more detail), we get information about what makes up the Sun (similar with stars), the magnetic fields, the temperatures, etc. See https://imagine.gsfc.nasa...um/spectra_more.html for a little more from NASA on studying the light from the Sun.
    KD Leka
    Basic Member
    Posts:115 Basic Member

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    3/24/2021 1:51 PM
    Sorry, to follow up as well - we can study the light from the Sun from the ground (from telescopes such as DKIST, see nso.edu/dkist), or from space such as from the Solar Dynamics Observatory. We can also sample particles that come from the Solar Wind using spacecraft such as ACE or the Parker Solar Probe. So we can let some spacecraft get a little bit close, but indeed, we are not able to "stick a thermometer" in the Sun, we generally just use the light that comes from it.
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