Glossary term: Convective Zone
Description: The convective zone is a region in a star where convection, rather than radiation is the main method of heat transportation. Convection requires a large difference of temperatures along a given region. When radiation is inefficient, convection sets in.
In the convective zone, hot material deeper in the star rises up to cooler regions where it cools and then sinks back down. In the most massive main sequence stars the stellar core is convective while the outer layers are radiative. In main sequence stars similar to the Sun, the region below the atmosphere is convective while the region deeper than this is radiative. In the lowest mass stars, the entire star, from the core to just below the atmosphere, is convective.
Convective motions result in large scale mixing of chemical elements. When convection reaches the surface of a star, it can transport freshly synthesized elements and isotopes to the surface, which leaves an imprint in the spectra recorded by astronomers.
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Term and definition status: This term and its definition have been approved by a research astronomer and a teacher
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".
