Solar core

The core of the Sun is considered to extend from the center to about 0.2 of solar radius (139,000 km; 86,000 mi).^[1] It is the hottest part of the Sun and of the Solar System. It has a density of 150,000 kg/m³ (150 g/cm³) at the center, and a temperature of 15 million kelvins (15 million degrees Celsius; 27 million degrees Fahrenheit).^[2]

The core is made of hot, dense plasma (ions and electrons), at a pressure estimated at 26.5 million gigapascals (3.84×10¹² psi) at the center.^[3] Due to fusion, the composition of the solar plasma drops from 68 to 70% hydrogen by mass at the outer core, to 34% hydrogen at the core/Sun center.^[4]

The core inside 20% of the solar radius contains 34% of the Sun's mass, but only 0.8% of the Sun's volume. Inside 24% of the solar radius is the core which generates 99% of the fusion power of the Sun. There are two distinct reactions in which four hydrogen nuclei may eventually result in one helium nucleus: the proton–proton chain reaction – which is responsible for most of the Sun's released energy – and the CNO cycle.