(Hover over the layers to see information)
The outermost layer of the star, the corona, is white streamers of hot, tenuous plasma that radiate out from its surface. The corona has strong magnetic fields that prevent turbulent solar winds from escaping. Once photons escape the layers of the sun and enter open space, it takes approximately 8 minutes and 20 seconds for them to reach Earth.
Beyond the photosphere is a fairly transparent layer of gas called the chromosphere. It emits a reddish light because of H-alpha emission, however, we can’t see it often because the photosphere outshines it. It is only visible on our star during solar eclipses when the photosphere is blocked by the moon.
The photosphere is where most of the star’s energy is emitted. This is where the light is radiated when the light energy produced in the star’s core escapes.
In the convection zone of a star, energy is transported to the photosphere by convection currents. The gas/plasma closer to the radiative zone is hottest, and coolest/denser near the photosphere. Because of this, the gas rises to the surface when it's hotter and the denser gas sinks. Photons can travel through the entire convection zone in about three months.
Photons escape from the core into the radiation zone where they collide with plasma particles and change directions in random ways. The radiation zone is responsible for flares and coronal mass ejections, which are massive burts of plasma and magnetic field that are ejected into space. It can take around 171,000 years for photons to exit the radiation zone.
The core of a star is where immense heat and pressure triggers nuclear fusion which converts hydrogen into helium. The energy produced from nuclear fusion creates power that balances the star’s gravity which pulls everything inward.