Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-short-options-paper-of-the-physics-prelims-of-the-university-of-oxford/2019/s3/1/e/solution

Using the stipulated as a wavelength-density peak, Wien's displacement law gives
This is a rough estimate from the supplied characteristic wavelength, not an accurate measurement of the Sun's effective temperature. The Sun emits a broad, approximately thermal visible spectrum and appears white outside the atmosphere; its familiar yellow appearance does not identify a monochromatic thermal peak. A photospheric effective temperature near instead corresponds to a wavelength-density maximum near .[ref][ref]
The core must be much hotter to provide the pressure required for hydrostatic equilibrium and to sustain nuclear fusion. Outward energy transport through an opaque interior proceeds down a temperature gradient, by radiative diffusion and then convection through much of the outer envelope. The observable photosphere radiates to space at the temperature needed to carry the solar luminosity, ; it is not an unobstructed view of the hot core. The printed core estimate above million degrees is also too high for the present Sun: the standard central temperature is about . This correction leaves the large core-to-surface contrast and its explanation intact.[ref]

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