Iron in the sun

I always wondered how much heavier elements are at the core of the sun. When I watched Nova (I think) on PBS someone used a spectrometer to find the color of light from the corona of the sun. They determined that it was iron plasma missing half of the elements electrons. They did not say how they determined that so I can only take their word that it is the correct determination.

https://www.space.com/17170-what-is-the-sun-made-of.html

I assume that the above article is merely guesswork and nobody really knows, but I think the sun must contain all elements that are created naturally. To me it is only a question of content.

I ran across this link in my search for estimates.

https://www.researchgate.net/post/Does_the_Suns_core_consist_of_iron_instead_of_hydrogen_And_what_is_its_implication_to_solar_energy_sources

It seems that what we think we know about the sun is often guesswork since we really do not know how much of each elements are in the sun and what fusion reactions are actually taking place. Could it be more than just hydrogen fusing into helium?

Originally posted by @metal-brain
I always wondered how much heavier elements are at the core of the sun. When I watched Nova (I think) on PBS someone used a spectrometer to find the color of light from the corona of the sun. They determined that it was iron plasma missing half of the elements electrons. They did not say how they determined that so I can only take their word that it is ...[text shortened]... ion reactions are actually taking place. Could it be more than just hydrogen fusing into helium?

You are one of those who doubt everything you are not familiar with.
Instead of thinking "That I don't believe because that I don't understand!" you should think "What they say I don't understand and I would like to know more about it!". You don't, therefore you are stuck.

Scientists are not just guessing. Any theory they come up with is supported by observations.

Did you know that iron is the most stable element in the periodic table, it has the least energy per particle in its core.
Did you know that the sun cannot produce its own iron, not until it goes supernova. So all its iron comes from its dust cloud it was built from. Same goes for every element heavier that the iron atom.
Did you know that the contents in the solar atmosphere can be shown of its spectra.

If you don't believe it - then ask "How can the scientists know that?" instead of "That I don't understand so it can't be true!".

Originally posted by @metal-brain
I assume that the above article is merely guesswork and nobody really knows,

wow your delusional arrogant ignorance is just appalling.
There are people MUCH smarter than you and I ( typical IQ ~140+ ) that know from scientific observations many things you don't; it is certainty NOT "merely guesswork"; it is called SCIENCE. They DO know, moron.

my two cents;;; I know that scientists can tell the age of a star by it's Hydrogen & Helium levels.. If there is lots of iron, then the star is old. If it is mainly Hydrogen then it is very young.

Originally posted by @ogb
my two cents;;; I know that scientists can tell the age of a star by it's Hydrogen & Helium levels.. If there is lots of iron, then the star is old. If it is mainly Hydrogen then it is very young.

It's more than that to know. Fascinating stuff!
Are you interested? Do you want to know?

Originally posted by @metal-brain
I always wondered how much heavier elements are at the core of the sun. When I watched Nova (I think) on PBS someone used a spectrometer to find the color of light from the corona of the sun. They determined that it was iron plasma missing half of the elements electrons. They did not say how they determined that so I can only take their word that it is ...[text shortened]... ion reactions are actually taking place. Could it be more than just hydrogen fusing into helium?

Heavier elements than iron are not created through fusion in stars.

We can do a bit better than "guessing" since we can very accurately analyze fusion reactions, can analyze spectra of sunlight, etc. even though we cannot travel to the core of the Sun and take samples.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_nucleosynthesis

Originally posted by @metal-brain
I always wondered how much heavier elements are at the core of the sun. When I watched Nova (I think) on PBS someone used a spectrometer to find the color of light from the corona of the sun. They determined that it was iron plasma missing half of the elements electrons. They did not say how they determined that so I can only take their word that it is ...[text shortened]... ion reactions are actually taking place. Could it be more than just hydrogen fusing into helium?

You might try reading about it in respectable journals:

http://www.waccobb.net/forums/showthread.php?73644-Does-the-Sun-contain-the-Periodic-Table-of-elements

Originally posted by @fabianfnas
You are one of those who doubt everything you are not familiar with.
Instead of thinking "That I don't believe because that I don't understand!" you should think "What they say I don't understand and I would like to know more about it!". You don't, therefore you are stuck.

Scientists are not just guessing. Any theory they come up with is supported by ...[text shortened]... k "How can the scientists know that?" instead of "That I don't understand so it can't be true!".

"Did you know that the contents in the solar atmosphere can be shown of its spectra."

I mentioned that in my OP. You don't read well do you?

"Did you know that the sun cannot produce its own iron, not until it goes supernova. So all its iron comes from its dust cloud it was built from. Same goes for every element heavier that the iron atom."

Yes, I am familiar with this theory. Sonhouse recently shared a link that challenges some of those assumptions though. You should ask him about it instead of always assuming what you read is correct.

"Scientists are not just guessing. Any theory they come up with is supported by observations."

If you had read my OP correctly you would know I only questioned the amount of iron and other elements in the sun. That cannot be determined by observation. It can only be estimated by guesswork.

You don't read well do you?

Originally posted by @kazetnagorra
Heavier elements than iron are not created through fusion in stars.

We can do a bit better than "guessing" since we can very accurately analyze fusion reactions, can analyze spectra of sunlight, etc. even though we cannot travel to the core of the Sun and take samples.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_nucleosynthesis

I know. Why are there so many morons on this science forum that assume I know less than they do?

You can't analyze fusion in the sun. Like you said, we can't take samples. Once again, I mentioned spectra in my OP. You don't read well either, do you?

Originally posted by @humy
wow your delusional arrogant ignorance is just appalling.
There are people MUCH smarter than you and I ( typical IQ ~140+ ) that know from scientific observations many things you don't; it is certainty NOT "merely guesswork"; it is called SCIENCE. They DO know, moron.

You delusional arrogance is appalling.

You have no clue how much iron is in the sun, just that there is iron. It most certainly is guesswork. Estimates are always guesswork. You once again called me a moron only to bring attention to you being the true moron.

What have I told you countless times about assuming. You can't just assume that scientists know what you don't. That is not science, that is faith.

Originally posted by @metal-brain
You delusional arrogance is appalling.

You have no clue how much iron is in the sun, just that there is iron. It most certainly is guesswork. Estimates are always guesswork. You once again called me a moron only to bring attention to you being the true moron.

What have I told you countless times about assuming. You can't just assume that scientists know what you don't. That is not science, that is faith.

You have no clue how much iron is in the sun

I am not a Sun expert and don't claim to be.

Estimates are always guesswork.

An estimate doesn't equate with just guesswork. They can estimate to within a few percent; that's far better than you and I can do and that certainly isn't just gueswork.
The estimate of the radius of the Earth is an estimate. Does that mean it is just guesswork and, for they know, it could be just one thousand miles?

You can't just assume that scientists know what you don't.

Why not? Unsurprisingly, scientist do know many things we don't.

Originally posted by @metal-brain
I know. Why are there so many morons on this science forum that assume I know less than they do?

You can't analyze fusion in the sun. Like you said, we can't take samples. Once again, I mentioned spectra in my OP. You don't read well either, do you?

We can't go inside the Sun, but we can mimic the conditions in the laboratory.

Originally posted by @metal-brain
I always wondered how much heavier elements are at the core of the sun. When I watched Nova (I think) on PBS someone used a spectrometer to find the color of light from the corona of the sun. They determined that it was iron plasma missing half of the elements electrons. They did not say how they determined that so I can only take their word that it is ...[text shortened]... ion reactions are actually taking place. Could it be more than just hydrogen fusing into helium?

Fusion of iron and heavier elements absorbs energy, rather than releases it. A star therefore cannot live on iron: it is the release of energy through atomic fusion processes that keeps a star from collapsing under the force of gravity.

Elements heavier than iron are produced in the brief moment during a supernova event when a star at least a few times more massive than our sun collapses on itself.

There undoubtedly is iron in the core of the sun, since the sun was partially formed from remnants of just such a supernova. We can be reasonably sure of this because the planets orbiting the sun formed from the same gas cloud and they consist of significant quantities of elements heavier than iron. In turn, we can be reasonably sure the planets formed from the same gas cloud as the sun because they have regular orbits that run in the same direction as the sun's rotation and tilt approximately to the same degree as the sun's equator. Etc, etc...

Originally posted by @metal-brain
"Did you know that the contents in the solar atmosphere can be shown of its spectra."

I mentioned that in my OP. You don't read well do you?

"Did you know that the sun cannot produce its own iron, not until it goes supernova. So all its iron comes from its dust cloud it was built from. Same goes for every element heavier that the iron atom."

Y ...[text shortened]... determined by observation. It can only be estimated by guesswork.

You don't read well do you?

I will take you seriously when you try to learn. When you ranting about guesswork then I don't think you really want to learn. Just ask the right questions and we will happily provide the right answers.

But if you, despite the fact you are not interesting of answers because you know it all in your twisted ways, ask questions in an insulting ways, then you have to prepare yourself that not to be taken seriously.

I think you as to be anti in everything that is scientific in its nature.

From your initial posting:

"I assume that the above article is merely guesswork and nobody really knows"
You're wrong.

"we really do not know how much of each elements"
You're wrong.

"we really do not know .. what fusion reactions are actually taking place"
You're wrong.

"Could it be more than just hydrogen fusing into helium?"
Yes, of course.

Originally posted by @metal-brain
I always wondered

Good