Solar properties (sunpy.sun)#

sunpy.sun contains constants, parameters and models of the Sun.

sunpy.sun.constants Module#

This module provides fundamental solar physical constants. The following constants are available:

Name

Value

Unit

Description

mass

1.98847542e+30

kg

Solar mass

radius

695700000

m

Nominal solar radius

luminosity

3.828e+26

W

Nominal solar luminosity

mean distance

1.49597871e+11

m

Astronomical Unit

perihelion distance

1.471e+11

m

Perihelion Distance

aphelion distance

1.521e+11

m

Aphelion Distance

age

4.6e+09

year

Age of the Sun

solar flux unit

1e-22

W m**-2 Hz**-1

Solar flux unit

visual magnitude

-26.75

Apparent visual magnitude

average angular size

959.63

arcsec

Semidiameter

surface area

6.087e+18

m**2

Surface area

average density

1409

kg m**-3

Mean density

surface gravity

274

m s**-2

Surface gravity

moment of inertia

5.7e+54

kg m**-2

Moment of inertia

volume

1.4122e+27

m**3

Volume

escape velocity

617700

m s**-1

Escape velocity at surface

oblateness

8.01

marcsec

oblateness

metallicity

0.0122

Metallicity

sunspot cycle

11.4

year

Average duration of sunspot cycle

average intensity

20090000

W m**-2 sr**-1

Mean Intensity

effective temperature

5778

K

Effective black-body temperature

mass conversion rate

4.3e+09

kg s**-1

Mass conversion rate

center density

162200

kg m**-3

Center density

center temperature

15710000

K

Center temperature

absolute magnitude

4.83

Absolute magnitude

mean energy production

0.0001937

J kg**-1

mean energy production

ellipticity

5e-05

ellipticity

GM

132712000

km**3 s**-2

standard gravitational parameter

W_0

84.176

deg

longitude of the prime meridian (epoch J2000.0)

sidereal rotation rate

14.1844

deg day**-1

sidereal rotation rate

first Carrington rotation (JD TT)

2398167.4

day

first Carrington rotation (JD TT)

mean synodic period

27.2752612

day

mean synodic period

alpha_0

286.13

deg

right ascension (RA) of the north pole (epoch J2000.0)

delta_0

63.87

deg

declination of the north pole (epoch J2000.0)

Functions#

get(key)

Retrieve a constant by key.

find([sub])

Return list of constants keys containing a given string.

print_all()

Provides a table of the complete list of constants.

Variables#

spectral_classification

Spectral classification

au

Astronomical Unit

mass

Solar mass

equatorial_radius

Nominal solar radius

volume

Volume

surface_area

Surface area

average_density

Mean density

equatorial_surface_gravity

Surface gravity

effective_temperature

Effective black-body temperature

luminosity

Nominal solar luminosity

mass_conversion_rate

Mass conversion rate

escape_velocity

Escape velocity at surface

sfu

Solar flux unit

average_angular_size

Semidiameter

sidereal_rotation_rate

sidereal rotation rate

first_carrington_rotation

Time of the start of the first Carrington rotation

mean_synodic_period

mean synodic period

sunpy.sun.models Module#

Solar Physical Models#

This module contains standard models of the Sun from various sources.

All data is saved in astropy.table.QTable with an added attribute:

  • source : names the source of the data

Object#

interiorastropy.table.QTable

The standard model of the solar interior.

evolutionastropy.table.QTable

The evolution as a function of time of the Sun.

References

  • Adapted from Turck-Chieze et al. (1988) with composition: X = 0.7046, Y = 0.2757, Z = 0.0197

Variables#

interior

A class to represent tables of heterogeneous data.

evolution

A class to represent tables of heterogeneous data.