The Photosphere: The Sun’s Shining Skin

The photosphere is the visible “surface” of the Sun, where most sunlight we see originates.
It’s about 300 miles thick, surprisingly thin compared to the Sun’s overall size.
Temperatures in the photosphere average around 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Sunspots appear on the photosphere as dark patches of intense magnetic activity.
The photosphere is made of plasma, a hot soup of charged particles.
Granulation patterns on the photosphere are caused by rising and falling convection currents.
Light from the photosphere takes just over 8 minutes to reach Earth.
Limb darkening makes the Sun’s edge look dimmer than its center.
The photosphere connects to the chromosphere and corona, higher layers of the solar atmosphere.
Studying the photosphere helps scientists understand solar cycles and space weather.