Bewilderingly counterintuitive fact: the sun is so bright and hot only because it’s so big. It radiates the same amount of energy per cubic meter as a heap of compost. http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2012/04/17/3478276.htm …
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Replying to @G_S_Bhogal
Hmm I might be missing something (is this measurement comparing a ratio of watts/kg?) Regardless, the temperature on the surface of the sun is ~5,778K and the core is insane. It’s one of the most efficient power generating objects in the Universe!
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Replying to @HunterBergsma
It's watts/cubic meter. Yes, sun's core is 15.7 million K, but, per meter cubed, it works out to less than the energy generation of compost. That makes it woefully inefficient!
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Replying to @G_S_Bhogal @HunterBergsma
It's not inefficient, the Sun is mostly fuel waiting in queue for a relatively tiny reactor.
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Replying to @FlameAngel8 @G_S_Bhogal
Good point, although interestingly, for a class G star like our Sun, most of the core is & will be composed of the same material since the density of the radiative zone is so dense, there isn’t much particle movement toward the core.https://images.app.goo.gl/NVyd7BjE4FPGEZXA6 …
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So
@G_S_Bhogal yeah color me surprised by this — most of the most of the mass of a star is of course not in active fusion, but is hot as hell as a result and every part is emitting an enormous volume of energy as part of a chain reaction. I know v. little about compost wattage!!1 reply 0 retweets 0 likes -
And another thing I feel compelled to write for some reason: the mass of a star is necessary to create the conditions in which nuclear fusion can occur, & the star roils around hydrostatic equilibrium. So including the outer layers in a power output comparison is tricksy
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It's not really, the comparison actually applies to the core.pic.twitter.com/d4NyTq0eCo
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Replying to @G_S_Bhogal @FlameAngel8
Ok I’ve got to look into this more later! Interesting and indeed counterintuitive
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