Relative abundance of elements in the sun

The sun is not a "perfect" radiator, nor does it have uniform composition. The sun is composed of about 92% hydrogen, 7.8% helium. The remaining 0.2% of the sun is made up of about 60 other elements, mainly metals such as iron, magnesium, and chromium. Carbon, silicon, and most other elements are present as well.1 The inte raction of the atoms and ions of these elements with the radiation created by the annihilation of matter deep within the sun modifies and adds structure to the solar spectral distribution of energy. Astrophysicists such as Kurucz have used quantum calculations and the relative abundance of elements in the sun to compute the theo retical spectral distribution from first principles.5 Figure 1 shows a plot of the Kurucz computed spectral distribution at very high resolution (0.005 nanometer at UV) as well as an inset showing much lower resolution (0.5 nanometer in UV to 5 nm in IR) plot. 

The composition of the Earth was determined both by the chemical composition of the solar nebula, from which the Sun and planets formed, and by the nature of the physical processes that concentrated materials to form planets. The bulk elemental and isotopic composition of the nebula is believed or usually assumed to be identical to that of the Sun. The few exceptions to this include elements and isotopes such as lithium and deuterium that are destroyed in the bulk of the Sun s interior by nuclear reactions. The composition of the Sun as determined by optical spectroscopy is similar to the majority of stars in our galaxy and, accordingly, the relative abundances of elements in the Sun are referred to as "cosmic abundances". Although the cosmic abundance pattern is commonly seen in other stars, there are dramatic exceptions, such as stars composed of iron or solid nuclear matter, as is the case with neutron stars. The best estimation of solar abundances is based on data from optical spectroscopy and meteorite studies and in some cases extrapolation and nuclear theory. The measured solar abundances are listed in Fig. 2-1 and Table 2-1. It is believed to be accurate to about 10% for the majority of elements. The major features of the solar abundance distribution are a strong decrease in the abundance of heavier elements, a large deficiency of Li, Be, and B, and a broad abundance peak centered near Fe. The factor of 10 higher... 

Below is a table listing the relative abundance of elements in the Sun. In total there are at least sixty-seven elements that have been identified as being present in the Sun— this table lists the ten most abundant ones. 

---

See also in sourсe #XX -- [ ]

---