People Are Asking If There Is No Oxygen In Space, How Is The Sun On Fire?

While there is no dearth of complicated questions to involve about the world , sometimes it ’s fun to go back to basics . In that spirit , here ’s the answer to a question people have inquire prison term and time again on theInternet : " If there ’s no oxygen in space , how is the Sun on fire ? "

First off , there is molecular oxygen in space – just not a raft of it . It has been found in molecular descriptor in a few places , let in theOrion Nebulaand the Rho Ophiuchi cloud , and the galaxy namedMarkarian 231 . Even in the Orion Nebula , it is scarce , and it is by all odds not the reason why the Sun " burns " , because it does n’t . Earth is the only place in our solar system where we know that there is fire . In fact , it is the only place in the world where we are sure that fire exists , and yes , that includes stars and the Sun .

To have fire , you require free atmospheric oxygen . Without it , combustion simply can not take place , and for free burning combustion , experiment showthat an atmospherical intensity of around 16 percent O2is required . Despite being thethird most abundant elementin the universe behind He and hydrogen , costless molecular O has only been found in abundance on Earth , where our atmosphere is21 percentoxygen .

The Sun is 91 percent H and 8.9 percent He in term of its routine of atoms , and around 70.6 percent hydrogen and 27.4 percent heliumby mass . If you do the maths real quick , you ’ll notice that does n’t leave a lot of room for oxygen to be present , countenance alone enough to sustain fervidness . Instead , passion and igniter are generated by nuclear unification .

" The Sun ’s enormous mass is held together by gravitational attraction , grow huge pressure and temperature at its nitty-gritty , " NASAexplains . " At the core , the temperature is about 27 million degree Fahrenheit ( 15 million academic degree Celsius ) , which is sufficient to suffer thermonuclear spinal fusion . This is a appendage in which atoms combine to spring large atom and in the process release staggering amounts of free energy . Specifically , in the Sun ’s core , hydrogen particle fuzee to make helium . "

It is this that produces the Sun ’s heat and light . But if the Sun is n’t on fire , and outer space is a vacuum , how do we feel the Sun ’s heat on Earth ?

With fewer particles to interact with in the ( almost ) vacuity of space , there is not enough issue to heat via radiation . The heating plant we feel on Earth is not direct estrus energy from the Sun , but the outcome ofsolar radiationemitted from the Sun ( wavelengths across the electromagnetic spectrum , includingvisible light ) interact with corpuscle on Earth .