Equator

[Jason Roehl]

Diamonds don't melt, they burn up.

Not if there isn't enough oxygen present...

Some good reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun

Note that while the surface of the Sun may be about 5700K, the corona (much farther out) averages about 1-2,000,000K, and can have expanses that are up to 20,000,000K.

[ray hampton]

Not if there isn't enough oxygen present...

Some good reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun

Note that while the surface of the Sun may be about 5700K, the corona (much farther out) averages about 1-2,000,000K, and can have expanses that are up to 20,000,000K.

HOW can this SUN contains Hydrogen and oxygen but no water ? will the hydrogen burn without oxygen ?

[John Coloccia]

HOW can this SUN contains Hydrogen and oxygen but no water ? will the hydrogen burn without oxygen ?

The sun is too hot for molecules to exist. Generally speaking, chemical reactions don't occur in the sun...it's just way too hot. When you get closer to the center of the sun, you don't even have traditional atoms anymore...all the electrons are stripped off and you have a soup of nuclei and electrons floating around, i.e. a plasma.

So the diamond certainly doesn't burn...as it gets closer to the sun it will melt, and as it get closer will it will evaporate into a carbon gas.

[Jason Roehl]

HOW can this SUN contains Hydrogen and oxygen but no water ? will the hydrogen burn without oxygen ?

The elements in the sun are in a plasma state of matter, under extreme temperatures, pressures and magnetic fields, so they do not react as one would expect at atmospheric pressure on the Earth's surface. Hydrogen is the main "fuel" for the sun, but it's not burning, it's undergoing nuclear fusion, which produces helium and lots of heat. In theory, that process will continue for several more billion years until all the hydrogen is used up, then the helium will begin fusing into even heavier elements, which will signal the (relatively) rapid decline of the Sun as the star we know today.

[Curt Harms]

It'll still melt, but the surface of the Sun is "only" about 10,000 degrees F.

Right, but the core is a different story. I don't recall the temperature necessary for a nuclear fusion reaction but I'd guess it's in the 10s of millions of degrees F. Hence the reason that nuclear fusion as a commercial power source ain't easy.

[harry hood]

The carbon would sublimate long before you reached one million degrees F. There are many excellent popular books about all aspects of astronomy, you might want to check some out from your local library if you find this interesting.

[ray hampton]

The carbon would sublimate long before you reached one million degrees F. There are many excellent popular books about all aspects of astronomy, you might want to check some out from your local library if you find this interesting.

Everything that my GOD created are of interest to me, even the snakes that can kill a man, but I can not remember so much any more

[David Weaver]

sublimate

One of my favorite words