Question

State whether true or false:
The outermost layer of the Sun’s atmosphere is called the photosphere.
A. True
B. False

Answer 1

Hint: The word photo means light and the sphere refers to the spherical shape of the sun. Thus by the combination of these two words, we can understand that photosphere is the layer of the sun that radiates the light.

Complete step by step answer:
The Sun is a major part of our solar system, the provider of the sunlight, which is very essential for life to sustain on Earth.
The Outermost layer of the Sun is not specifically the Photosphere, which makes the above statement untrue. The outermost layer of the Sun is indeed known as Corona which is a part of the atmosphere of the Sun.
The Sun’s structure has the following known layers:-
1. The Core - The innermost 20-25% of the Sun.
2. The Radiative Zone – It starts from the core and advances up to 0.7 solar radii distance.
3. The Tachocline – it is the boundary between the radiative zone and the convective zone.
4. The Convective Zone- This lies between the 70% radius of the sun to the visible zone.
5. Photosphere- The photosphere is known as the deepest part of the sun. It can be directly observed by visible light. It is hundreds of kilometers thick.
6. The Atmosphere- The atmosphere of the Sun is visible during a solar eclipse.
The atmosphere is composed of four parts-
1. The chromosphere- Above the temperature minimum layer is a 2000 km thick layer, full of a spectrum of emissions and absorption lines. This is known as the chromosphere.
2. The Transition Region- A thin region of around 200kms above the chromosphere where temperature variations take place from 20000 K to 1000000 K due to full ionization of helium.
3. The Corona- It is the extended atmosphere of the sun of very high temperatures leading up to 20000000 K. NASA suggests Corona to be the outermost layer of the Sun and not the photosphere.
4. The Heliosphere- It is the weak outermost atmosphere of the Sun. It is filled with solar plasma.
It is clear by knowing about these layers that Corona is the outermost layer of the Sun and not the photosphere.
Therefore, the correct option is False.

Note: The upper region of the photosphere is cooler than the lower region and thus the center of the solar is brighter than the edges. This layer is also visible from the earth. It also consists of solar flares and sunspots.