From: Louis Newstrom (newsnewstrom@home.com)
Date: Thu Jan 10 2002 - 05:43:46 MST
From: "jeff davis" <jrd1415@yahoo.com>
>
> I'm no astrophysicist either,...but consider. Earth
> has an iron core. The asteroid belt has asteroids
> that are largely iron.
>
> Iron is abundant in the solar system.
>
Actually, no. 99% of the solar system is Hydrogen. If a body is too small
light molecules (like Hydrogen) escape. If a body is too hot molecules move
faster, with lighter ones moving the fastest, and again, Hydrogen would
escape.
The bodies you mention are what's left over if the lighter molecules
(Hydrogen and Helium) are removed.
> Makes perfect sense to me that the sun
> should have a "core". Makes the sun an infinitely
> more complex system.
Just for trivia...
This "core" is mostly Helium, but it is made up of all of the non-Hydrogen.
As the sun fuses Hydrogen into Helium, the core of mostly Helium grows
larger. When that core is large enough to push all of the Hydrogen out of
the high-enough-pressure zone, where fusion can occur, the fusion will stop,
and the sun will collapse.
--- Louis Newstrom louisnewstrom@home.com
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