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Glossary term: Soleil

Description: Le Soleil est l'étoile la plus proche de la Terre. Pour les astronomes, il s'agit d'une étoile de type "G2V". Cette désignation signifie que le Soleil est encore dans sa prèmiere phase, plutôt stable, avec une température de surface ("température effective") de 5800 kelvins, qui lui donne sa couleur caractéristique. La luminosité des étoiles varie de plus de 1000 fois celle du Soleil à environ 1000 fois plus faible, mais les plus brillantes sont relativement rares : le Soleil est plus brillant (et plus lourd) que la plupart (peut-être quelque 85 %) des étoiles de la Galaxie.

Pour les astronomes, le Soleil est intéressant parce qu'en raison de sa proximité, sa surface peut être observée de manière plus détaillée, ce qui permet d'étudier des structures et des phénomènes. Par exemple, l'activité solaire, qui est liée aux champs magnétiques du Soleil : taches solaires (zones plus froides), éruptions (éclairs lumineux de courte durée) et même éjections de masse coronale (particules chargées électriquement projetées par le Soleil). Les physiciens ont également détecté des particules élémentaires connues sous le nom de neutrinos provenant du noyau du Soleil, ce qui constitue une preuve directe des processus de fusion nucléaire. L'élément hélium a été détecté pour la première fois dans le spectre solaire, d'où son nom, qui vient d'Hélios (le dieu du Soleil dans la mythologie grecque).

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Term and definition status: The original definition of this term in English have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher
The translation of this term and its definition is still awaiting approval

The OAE Multilingual Glossary is a project of the IAU Office of Astronomy for Education (OAE) in collaboration with the IAU Office of Astronomy Outreach (OAO). The terms and definitions were chosen, written and reviewed by a collective effort from the OAE, the OAE Centers and Nodes, the OAE National Astronomy Education Coordinators (NAECs) and other volunteers. You can find a full list of credits here. All glossary terms and their definitions are released under a Creative Commons CC BY-4.0 license and should be credited to "IAU OAE".

Related Media


The Sun, surrounded by several bright circles and arcs, over a snowy, tree-lined landscape.

Winter Haloes, by Thomas Gigl, Germany

Caption: Second place in the 2021 IAU OAE Astrophotography Contest, category Sun/Moon haloes. Captured in Jochberg located in the famous Austrian ski-region of Tirol, this image shows multiple features related to ice halos, which are a more common appearance around the sun, due to its brightness, than the moon. External and internal reflection of sun rays from ice crystal faces and within different types of ice crystals lead to these halo related phenomena. The 22° halo encircles the sun, with two bright spots at the edge called Sundogs, Parhelia or Mock Suns observed to the left and right at the same height as the sun. The horizontal white band called the parhelic circle, named after the sun god Helios, passes through the sun and the Sundogs at the same angular elevation. An Upper tangent arc, a suncave parry arc and a lower tangent arc are also seen touching the top and bottom of the 22° halo. An upside down rainbow like arc or the circumzenithal arc is seen touching the bright supralateral arc, both of which are less frequently observed.
Credit: Thomas Gigl/IAU OAE

License: CC-BY-4.0 Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) icons


Image showing groups of sunspots as dark patches which lie in bands above and below the Sun's equator

Sunspots

Caption: In this image the sun peppered with groups of sunspots over almost nine days between July and August 2012. The sunspots seen in this image have been sources of the solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME). In this image particulary, the sun is approaching solar maximum in its cycle (solar cycle), where we see many spots forming along the suns' equator. These sunspots and activity are seen in the southern hemisphere, before then most of the activity was on the northern hemisphere.
Credit: NASA/SDO/HMI credit link

License: PD Public Domain icons


Le Soleil dans l'ultraviolet apparaît comme un cercle. L'éruption est une tache brillante en haut à droite, à 3/4 de la distance du centre.

Éruption solaire

Caption: Cette image montre une éruption solaire de niveau moyen, observée en mars 2022 par l'Observatoire de la dynamique solaire (SDO). Le SDO observe l'activité du Soleil, il montre donc les régions du Soleil où il y a de l'activité. Cette éruption est de classe M, ce qui signifie qu'elle est dix fois moins importante que les éruptions les plus intenses, c'est-à-dire les éruptions X. Les éruptions solaires sont à peine visibles à l'œil nu, d'où l'intérêt du SDO. L'image ici, est prise dans l'ultraviolet extrême qui a été colorée en rouge par le SDO, l'éruption apparaît dans la partie supérieure du disque solaire.
Credit: NASA/SDO credit link

License: PD Public Domain icons

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