The star that we can know about in greater detail, due to its proximity, is the Sun. Although we haven’t been able to observe its interior directly, the laws of Physics help us to understand what is going on inside it.
The aim of this sound creation that you are going to listen to is to help to show how the main solar layers function.
Layer 1 - The core
We are right at the heart of the Sun, where energy originates from. It is a place with temperatures that are around 15 million degrees Kelvin, where gas particles crash into each other at incredibly high speeds.
The sound that we can hear represents the millions of collisions and interactions between these particles. Each click is a representation of an atomic process that is producing light and energy.
Layer 2 - Radiative zone.
This is a zone made up of enormously dense plasma, where the energy of the core is radiated towards the surface.
The sound that we can hear represents the process in which the photons, or light particles transport the energy from the core towards the surface. It is similar to the way that heat radiates from a stove or a bonfire.
Layer 3 - Convective zone.
In this region, energy moves in a similar way to when we heat up a pan with water: when the liquid heats up at the bottom, it creates an upward flow, while the liquid on the surface, which is less hot, goes down towards the base in a cyclical process, that is bubbling and full of turbulence, known as convection.
Layer 4 - Photosphere.
We have reached the visible surface of the Sun. It looks like an ocean of glowing gas in constant motion that is full of turbulence, in which there may be a great deal of magnetic activity, which causes huge flares of gas to shoot out and fall back onto the surface. When this activity becomes more intense, it produces what are called Solar Storms.
Finally, after coming up to the surface, energy passes through the final solar layers: the chromosphere and the corona, and travels to the Earth to provide light and heat. It does all this in an incredibly long slow process: to get an idea, it is calculated that the energy generated inside the core can take a million years to reach the surface of the Sun, although once it gets there, each photon takes just over 8 minutes to reach the Earth.
This project has been developed by AstroTáctil, in collaboration with the Institute of Astrophysics Studies at Diego Portales University and the Mirador Interactive Museum (MIM) in Chile.