Is the sun a fusion engine?
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by
homie12
how is the sun still hanging on to all the planets? and why does the interior of the sun appear to be cooler than surface and corona the hotter yet? Thats the heat signature going in reverse?
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by
chelseanr
The suns gravitational force is what keeps the planets in orbit around it, much like the moon goes around the earth. If you think of the solar system as a trampoline with the sun as a bowling ball at the center it is obviously going to cause the center of the trampoline to sink downwards, now if you were to grab some smaller variously sized balls and throw them really really fast around the rim of the trampoline they would circle around and around until eventually falling into the sun at the center. That's essentially how the sun holds onto it's planets, they are slowly falling inward towards it but the speed and forces at work keep the fall at a very very very incredibly slow pace, the sun will die and become a red giant that consumes the planets before earth falls into it. If the sun wasn't there earth would fly in a straight line through space, it's almost as if the sun has us on a giant rope that keeps us spinning around it. I hope that makes sense and there's no mis-information, it's been a while since high school science classes :]
As for the question about the sun being hotter at its core, I've never heard that and wouldn't have the foggiest :] Maybe someone else can answer it. Probably has something to do with hot plasma rising from the center but I really have no clue.
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