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sun

Symbology:

The circle stands for the spirit, while the point represents the seed of its manifestation or the sunspots, from which life emanates.

Q

History:

Apollo, the powerful son of Zeus (Jupiter) and of Latona, was associated BC, with Leo for the Greeks he was a symbol of the force, light and purity of the Sun. Apollo is also called Febo (in Greek Phoibos) which means brilliant, radiant of light, he was also  the one god who drove the chariot of the Sun.

Characteristics:

*Minute for second²

Period SYNODIC and Sideral:

Synodic period (S):

It is the interval of passed time between two consecutive equal configurations. It is the period of apparent translation of an planet, in relation to the Earth.

Sidereal period (P):

It is the real period of translation of an planet around the Sun; in relation, to a fixed star.

The Sun is nearly all hydrogen and helium, with traces (less than 2% by mass in total) of elements with heavier nuclei.

The solar light is the combination of all colors, and when the colors are spread out as in a rainbow, it is called a spectrum. See at the right, the diverse colors or spectrum by different angles of the wavelength. Light is also called radiation, and it all travels at the speed of 300,000 km per second. Besides, the light is a form of energy and it has the properties of both a particle and a wave.  The light particles are called "photons". The amount of energy a photon has, depends of its wavelength.

In addition to visible light, there are various forms of "light" we cannot see. Listed below are the various types of radiation, from the highest to the lowest energy photons.

An absorption line spectrum is produced when cool gas lies between a continuum source and us; the specific wavelengths absorbed by the atoms in the gas are removed from the light that comes to us. An emission line spectrum is produced when photons are emitted by gas that is thin enough to be transparent in the continuum.

Our Sun supports life on Earth with the physical and chemistry action and powers photosynthesis in all the plants and is ultimately the source of all food and energy. The connection and interaction between the Sun and the Earth drive the seasons, the currents of the ocean, weather conditions, and climate. The Sun is some 333,400 times more massive than Earth and contains 99.86% of the mass of the entire solar system.

All in the solar system is held together by gravitational attraction from the Sun, producing immense pressure and temperature at its core (more than a billion times that of the atmosphere on Earth, with a density about 160 times that of water).

At the core, the temperature is 16 million degrees Kelvin (K), which is sufficient to sustain thermonuclear fusion reactions. The released energy prevents the collapse of the Sun and keeps it in gaseous form.

The total energy radiated is 383 billion trillion kilowatts, which is equivalent to the energy generated by 100 billion tons of TNT exploding each second. As we all can infer in the graph at the right, the central nucleus of the Sun (core), is where nuclear reactions are produced originating solar energy. This energy is the result of the nuclear transformation of hydrogen in helium, that it rises to the surface for radiation. When it ascends until the photosphere for convection, in the surface the energy escapes in form of light and heat; and above the photosphere, different interferences of gigantic fire tongues or prominences are observed that are projected for thousands of kilometers in space for the energy processes produced near 11 years in the sunspots. On top of  the photosphere is located the chromosphere, a cape of rarefied hydrogen that gives it a reddish coloration of thousands of kilometers of thickness.

In fact, the chromosphere is not visible due to the intense splendor of the photosphere. The corona, extremely faint, does not have a very defined limit and it extends until the depths of the solar system through the solar winds that transport particles of live (electrons and protons).

The Sun releases much more energy every second in its central regions, but those materials are under great pressure from the weight of all the matter piled up on top of them ─the thick outer layers of the Sun, pulled down by a gravity much stronger than anything on Earth. That pressure confines the extremely hot gas in the core of the Sun. The heat gradually get its way to the surface, but the Sun does not blow up. If somehow it could yield to the pressure and expand, the central core would cool down and the nuclear energy release would drop. Then the pressure would decrease again and gravity would reassert itself. Some stars do in fact oscillate, but we should be grateful that the Sun does not belong to that class.

The Sun is a globe of gas of hydrogen and helium and its rotation is contrary to the Earth; that is to say,  from the east to the west or in the sense of the hands of the clock. The Sun do not rattan to the same rat in the different latitudes. The rotation is more or less of 25 days at the level of the equator, 28 days in latitudes of 45° north; and 34 days near the poles. Truly, the average rate of rotation of the Sun in latitudes of 15° north, is of 25,38 days.

Australian astronomers have studied the pulsing of the Sun revealing how the interior moves around, how deep some of its layers are, and its chemical composition. Pulsations in the Sun have a average period of 5' ('=minute). "As a star gets older, its 'voice' deepens ─ the period of its oscillations gets longer," said team leader Dr Tim Bedding of the University of Sydney. Evidence from the pulsations of the Sun has been extremely important in constraining theories of how the Sun 'works'. "We still have problems with the number of neutrinos the Sun produces", said Dr Bedding. "There are not enough of them. We will like to tweak our theories to make the problem go away. But we can not because that would contradict the evidence we get from the pulsations of the Sun about what is going on inside. So the explanation of the neutrino deficit must lie elsewhere, in theoretical nuclear physics." The animation at the right, is one mode of pulsation with the amplitude greatly exaggerated. A real star like the Sun, will pulsate simultaneously in a number of different modes, and each pulsation will have a slightly different period. In the Sun, the pulsation modes have periods from 4-8' long.

Scientist discovered that the Sun makes an 18 octave sound when space is a vacuum in which we can not hear sound in. It is true that we can not hear the Sun with a microphone. Instead, we can see the sound waves because of the effect they make on the Sun. The Sun is full of all sorts of sound waves traveling through the interior. Some of them resonate because they are particular frequencies. These sound waves are actually reflected at the surface, although it is not solid. But there is an abrupt change in density, which allows the reflection to happen. The sound waves as they reflect at the surface cause a change in brightness and push up some too. So, with the right sort of instruments (see SOHO/MDI) we can measure the changes in brightness and the velocity changes at the surface. From those measurements, we can work out the sound of the Sun. The discovery of solar oscillations about 20 years ago revolutionized the study of the Sun by providing a new means for probing the interior of the Sun, a relatively new field of inquiry known as "helioseismology". Scientists believe that such wave motions are also characteristic of stars like the Sun, and they are actively searching for stellar oscillations. Tones cluster around wave periods of about 5', scientists said. Each 5' period represents the time it takes for the motion of the Sun to change from moving outward to moving inward and then back outward again. These waves are equivalent to normal sound waves traveling through the atmosphere of the Earth, but the periods are too long for the human ear to hear. In addition, the rarefied gas in space is not expected to transmit sound waves from the Sun to distant spacecraft like Ulysses, which is currently about 283 million kilometers from the Sun.

(Courtesy of NASA)

Sounds of the Sun

The Sun now is on the upswing of its 23rd activity cycle, a numbering scheme that dates from the mid-19th century, following introduction of the "relative sunspot number" by Rudolf Wolf of the Zurich Observatory in 1848. The sunspot number of Wolf (now called the international sunspot number or the Zurich number) represents a blend of actual numbers of individual spots and numbers of groups of solar sunspots.

On average, this number varies from a minimum through a maximum to the next minimum in about 11 years. Because the solar magnetic fields reverse at the peak of each 11-year cycle, solar activity cycle actually spans a 22-year "Hale cycle." Cycle 23 is the last half of the current Hale cycle (composed of Cycles 22 and 23). Sunspots have a preferred latitude, depending on where you are in the solar cycle. At the beginning of each 11-year solar cycle, sunspots form at fairly high latitudes. Then, as the solar cycle progresses, the preferred latitude for sunspots shifts down towards the equator. The magnetic field at the poles is substantially different from that at the equator of the Sun. At the equator, the magnetic field lines generally do not stray far from the surface. They come out from one point in the surface and go back in again close to the original point, forming loops. Sunspots are found at the bases of really strong loops. At the poles, however, the magnetic field lines go out to far distances away from the Sun. If they go back again at all, it is far away from where they came out; then, the sunspots can not form under these conditions.

A sunspot is simply a region on the surface of the Sun ─called the photosphere─ that is temporarily cool and dark compared to surrounding regions. Solar measurements reveal that the average surface temperature of the Sun is 6,000° Celsius and that sunspots are about 1,500° Celsius cooler than the area surrounding them (still very hot), and can last anywhere from a few hours to a few months. Sunspots expand and contract as they move across the surface of the Sun and can be as large as 80,000 km in diameter.

Sunspots are magnetic regions on the Sun with magnetic field strengths thousands of times stronger than the magnetic field of the Earth, and often appear in pairs that are aligned in an east-west direction. One set will have a positive or north magnetic field while the other set will have a negative or south magnetic field. The field is strongest in the darker parts of the sunspots ─called the umbra. The field is weaker and more horizontal in the lighter part ─the penumbra. Overall, sunspots have a magnetic field that is about 1,000 times stronger than the surrounding photosphere.

The largest sunspot group since 1900 was one in 1947 which measured 6,132 millionths of the solar disk, or 18 times the surface area of the Earth, and also sunspot groups can last more than one rotation. However, each time a region comes around, it gets a new number ─that keeps it simpler because it is hard to be absolutely positive it is the same region without being able to watch its evolution on the far side of the Sun.

The result is that there is a little bit more radiation coming from the Sun when it has more sunspots, but the effect is so small that it has very little impact on the weather and climate on Earth. However, there are more important indirect effects: sunspots are associated with what we call "active regions", with large magnetic structured containing very hot material (being held in place by the magnetism in the Sun). This caused more ultraviolet (or UV) radiation (the rays that give you a suntan or sunburn), and extreme ultraviolet radiation (EUV). These types of radiation have an impact on the chemistry of the upper atmosphere (e.g. producing ozone). Since some of these products act as greenhouse gases, the number of sunspots (through association with active regions) may influence the climate in this way. Many active regions produce giant outflows of material that are called Coronal Mass Ejections. These ejections drag with them some of the more intense magnetic fields that are found in the active regions from the Sun. The magnetic fields act as a shield for high-energy particles coming from various sources in our galaxy (outside the solar system) and from the solar ejections. These "cosmic rays" (CRs) cause ionization of molecules in the atmosphere, and thereby can cause clouds to form (because the ionized molecules or dust particle can act as "seeds" for drop formation). If clouds are formed very high in the atmosphere, the net result is a heating of the Earth ─it acts as a "blanket" that keeps warmth hooked on the Earth. If clouds are formed lower down in the atmosphere, they reflect sunlight better than they keep heat inside, so the net result is cooling.

Planning for satellite orbits and space missions often require knowledge of solar activity levels years in advance. A number of techniques are used to predict the amplitude of a cycle during the time near and before sunspot minimum. Relationships have been found between the size of the next cycle maximum and the length of the previous cycle, the level of activity at sunspot minimum, and the size of the previous cycle. Among the most reliable techniques are those that use the measurements of changes in the at the magnetic field of the Earth, and before, sunspot minimum; since is known, that the changes in the magnetic field of the Earth, are caused by solar storms.

The position of the Sun in the zodiac or the 0°, moves in retrograde in the ecliptic year after year, making a complete circle in approximately 25,740 years (71.5 years x 360°). Today, February of the 2004, the 0° is located in Pisces to 5°12'26 ''; and in more or less 350 years, the Sun will have passed from Pisces until Aquarius to reason of 1° for every 71,5 years, continuing its retrograde movement in the ecliptic due to the precession of the equinoxes.

The Milky Way Galaxy is a spiral galaxy; our Sun and solar system are a small part of it. Most of the stars that we can see are in the Milky Way Galaxy.

The main plane of the Milky Way looks like a faint band of white in the night sky. The Milky Way is about 100,000 light-years in diameter and 1,000 light-years thick. There are about 2 x 10¹¹ stars in the Milky Way. This spiral galaxy formed about 14 billion years ago. It takes the Sun roughly 250 million years to orbit once around the Milky Way. The Earth is about 26,000 light-years from the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. The major arms of the Milky Way galaxy are the Perseus, Sagittarius, Centaurus , and Cygnus; our Solar System is in a minor arm called the Orion Spur. To be exact, it is not an official arm like the Sagittarius or Perseus arm, but a smaller offshoot called a spur ─in this case, the Orion spur, because it juts out from the Orion Arm of the galaxy. At the junction point where the Orion spur meets with the larger galactic arm can be found one of the vastest stars known in the galaxy, Betelgeuse. A supergiant radiating unbelievable amounts of heat and energy at a distance of, fortunately for us, 520 light years, Betelgeuse knows no equal in sheer volume or area of influence. Over 160 million suns could nestle themselves within its stellar body during its most expansive period (like all variable stars, it fluctuates in size and luminosity).

The analemma is a loop that results when one observes the position of the Sun at the same time, during the day, over the course of a year.

Due to the Earth is tilt about its axis of 23.5°, and for its elliptical, the location of the Sun is not constant from day to day when observed at the same time, on each day for an year.

Depending of the physical latitude of the observer, as we can see in the following animations, the analemma  will be inclined at different angles as it is demonstrate in the images to the right and left respectively.

A solar eclipse consists on the interference of the Moon in the apparent road between the Earth and the Sun, like to well is appreciated in the graph at the left, and like one can notice, a very small part of the planet is affected by the umbra (not more than 250 km in a total eclipse of the Sun; and much less, in a solar partial eclipse). The penumbra, includes a much wider surface.

In the graph at the right, the Earth under a total eclipse of Sun, denotes the shade of the Moon that darkens part of Earth.

This shadow moves across the Earth at nearly 2,000 km. per hour.

Only observers near in the center of the dark circle, can perceive a total solar eclipse.

In an partial eclipse, only part of the Sun appears blocked by the Moon.

Nevertheless, during succinct minutes (among 3 at 7' maxima), inside of the umbra of the eclipse was partial or totally lacking of solar illumination, vibration, energy and life. This collaterally should affect the entire harmony of the remaining area of the Earth, where the eclipse did not acts direct and indirectly. Is also necessary to understand that the solar and lunar energies are very strong; and for some brief moments of the total eclipse, the Earth for its weakness in the atmospheric shield protector, can be penetrated so much by:

ü The lunar and solar energies.

ü The forces of the constellation where the Sun trafficked in the moment of the total eclipse.

ü The cosmic streams from other parts of the universe.

Practically every 6 months a solar eclipse is produced, because the distance between the Earth and the Moon varies in 10% approximately; therefore, it is advisable to consider in any astrological chart the place and exact moment of the eclipse, to analyze its effects (direct or indirect) in any event under astrological analysis, or before or after birth of any person.

The previous characteristics of the Sun, astrologically are reflected in most of people (not in all) with the natal Sun in conjunction in the cusped of the ascendant sign (the physical personality) or in any zodiacal sign (the spiritual personality), with the following tendencies:

REPRESENTATION:

The day, the spirit, the light, heat, energy, shine, radiation, life, power, synthesis, the eternal; the big and majestic, authority, success, glory, masculine sex, husband (in feminine themes), father, gold.

Effects:

1. Physical (ascendant):

In general, solar beings are of medium stature, of correct distribution of the members and proportionate correctly, with a wide and hefty chest and back. The head is big and wider than it is high. The forehead is wide and solid. Open and somewhat ripped eyes, with long and curved lashes, horizontal and populated brows. Straight nose with width blocks finishing in thick, round and open nasal graves. The mouth has well formed lips, standing out the superior slightly. A circular jaw concluding in an ovoid outstanding and very strong chin. The ears are medium in size and circular in shape, and a separated point of the head. The hands the same as the fingers, are short, strong, oval. In the palms of the hands are highlighted the mount and line of the Sun.

2. Personal (ascendant and solar sign):

2.1. Positive:

Dignity, authority, direction, expansion, magnanimity, dazzle, majestic attitude, shine, stroke of genius, intelligence, honor, individuality, idealism, impulsiveness, vivacity, courage, ambition, optimism, creativity, synthesis, materialization, concretion, organization, innovation, anti-conventionalism, adaptation, good concept of things, willingness, auto-confidence, rightness, generosity, cordiality, extroversion, riches.

2.2. Negative:

Pomposity, arrogance, haughtiness, sufficiency, boasting, extravagancy, ingenuousness, imitation, domain, tyranny, despotism, and impulsive ire.

2.3. Organic:

Vitality, heart, arteries, view, front, spleen, spine, gland pituitary frontal, leaves of the thyroid.

Affinity:

For affinities and other information, please go to the sign of Leo.

Tarot and Numerology:

INDEX