WTF Fun Fact 13387 – Earth’s Core May Be Hotter Than The Sun

Scientists believe that the Earth’s core, consisting primarily of iron and nickel, may be hotter than the surface of the sun, with temperatures reaching up to 5,500 degrees Celsius (9,932 degrees Fahrenheit).

Why do scientists think the Earth’s core is hotter than the sun’s surface?

The Earth’s core, located approximately 2,900 kilometers (1,800 miles) beneath the Earth’s surface, remains an elusive and challenging realm for direct exploration. Despite the inability to physically access the core, scientists have employed a combination of sophisticated techniques, including theoretical modeling and seismic studies, to gain insights into its temperature.

Scientists use the analysis of seismic waves generated by earthquakes to study the temperature of the planet’s core. By studying the behavior of these waves as they travel through different layers of the Earth, scientists can infer valuable information about the planet’s internal structure and temperature distribution.

Through seismic studies, scientists have determined that the core’s temperature increases significantly as one ventures deeper into the Earth. The most scorching temperatures are found at the boundary between the outer and inner core, approximately 3,200 miles beneath the Earth’s surface. Here, researchers estimate that the temperature reaches nearly 6,000 degrees Celsius (10,800 degrees Fahrenheit). So, if that’s the case, then the earth’s core is hotter than the sun.

Where’d that heat come from?

Interestingly, the heat in the Earth’s core does not come from the sun. The core’s exceptional temperatures are sustained by two primary heat sources. The first source of heat originates from the residual energy trapped within the Earth since its formation around 4.5 billion years ago. During the Earth’s early stages, countless collisions and mergers between rock fragments produced an immense amount of heat, some of which remains within the core to this day.

The second source of heat within the core arises from the radioactive decay of isotopes present throughout the Earth. Radioactive elements such as potassium-40, thorium-232, uranium-235, and uranium-238 release energy as they undergo decay, contributing to the overall heat budget of the core.

While the core’s temperatures may exceed those of the sun’s surface, it is important to note that the conditions in the core are drastically different. The core’s high pressures prevent its iron-nickel composition from vaporizing into gas despite the extreme temperatures.

This unique combination of heat and pressure creates an environment that sustains the core in a liquid or solid state.

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Source: “How has Earth’s core stayed as hot as the sun’s surface for billions of years?” — Space.com

WTF Fun Fact 12783 – The Rotation of Venus

The rotation of Venus on its axis is very slow.

For those who need a refresher in astronomy, the planets in our solar system rotate in two ways 1) on their axis (spinning in place, basically – which makes one day), and 2) around the sun (which makes a year).

What’s unique about the rotation of Venus?

Planets rotate around the sun with regularity, but when it comes to spinning on their own axis, that’s a different story. And astrophysicists have long wondered why Venus’ rotation is so slow.

According to Space.com (cited below): “Venus orbits the sun at about two-thirds of the distance between our planet and the star. Shrouded in a dense and toxic atmosphere of carbon dioxide and sulfuric acid, the planet suffers from a runaway greenhouse effect that pushes temperatures on its surface to life-preventing 900 degrees Fahrenheit (475 degrees Celsius). And something else is odd about this world: While Venus completes its orbit around the sun in 225 Earth days, it takes 243 Earth days for the planet to spin around its axis.”

Why Venus take so long?

But that still doesn’t answer the question about why Venus is so slow to rotate on its axis. However, a study in Nature Astronomy by astrophysicist Stephen Kane at the University of California gives us some new insight. Kane believes that the planet’s thick, stormy atmosphere interferes with axial rotation. Venus’ atmosphere blocks the sun’s energy from leaving the planet.

Kane said in a statement: “We think of the atmosphere as a thin, almost separate layer on top of a planet that has minimal interaction with the solid planet. Venus’ powerful atmosphere teaches us that it’s a much more integrated part of the planet that affects absolutely everything, even how fast the planet rotates.”

Rethinking the role the atmosphere plays on a planet may eventually help us rethink the way we look at the solar system. In other words, we’ll have to acknowledge that not all planets can be viewed from the perspective of the way things work on Earth. Go figure.

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Source: “Why is a day on Venus longer than a year? The atmosphere may be to blame.” — Space.com