HOW DO WE KNOW WHAT STARS ARE MADE OF?
Nuclear fusion is the process how all the elements in Universe, other than hydrogen are formed. Each chemical element has a distinctive colour when they burn, it's this property that tells us what stars are made of.
The Sun is made up of hydrogen, helium, oxygen, carbon, neon and iron.
The Sun's atmosphere is made up of charged particles, and interestingly, the corona, the plasma that surrounds the Sun is hotter than the surface, about a million degrees Celsius.
Through most of the Sun's life, energy is produced by nuclear fusion in the core; this process converts hydrogen into helium.
The result of the Sun's thermonuclear fusion is light. The quantum of light, the photon is everywhere; 380 quadrillion photons land on your fingernail every second!
Watch the beautiful Solar prominences captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory!
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