Like Earth, the sun is also made up of several layers. However, unlike Earth with its solid parts, the sun is made up entirely of gases. It also has other features such as sunspots, solar flares, and solar prominences.

The Sun's Layers

The sun's surface is composed of hot glowing gases packed into its three layers: the photosphere, chromosphere, and corona.

Photosphere

The photosphere is the visible glowing inner layer that is the source of the sun’s heat and light.

Chromosphere

Just above the photosphere is the chromosphere, or the inner part of the sun that is seen as a brilliant scarlet ring during a total solar eclipse, or a phenomena when the moon covers the sun.

Corona

The corona is the outermost layer of the sun and is about 2100 km above the photosphere. It is a silvery halo of gases that extends up to millions of kilometers into space. Its temperature is extremely high, reaching up to 2 000 000°C. It gives off big amounts of visible light and ultraviolet (UV) rays. Ultraviolet rays are invisible rays that are part of the energy that comes from the sun.