The Earth’s core is as hot as the surface of the Sun, estimated to be 6,000 degrees Kelvin. The core is made up of solid and liquid iron, and its temperature is calculated by measuring iron’s melting curves. The liquid outer core is responsible for the Earth’s magnetic field.
How hot exactly is the center of the Earth? Though it’s hard to imagine, the Earth’s core has a similar temperature to the surface of the Sun. It is estimated to be 6,000 degrees Kelvin. While the Earth’s core is much hotter than experts had previously thought, it still doesn’t compare to the sun’s atmosphere, where temperatures often reach between 1 million and 2 million degrees Kelvin. The Earth’s core consists of crystals of solid iron (inner core) and liquid iron (outer core). The temperature of the earth’s core is calculated by measuring the melting curves of iron. In 2013, French scientists conducted an experiment in which they took measurements in a controlled environment that replicated the pressure at the Earth’s core. The X-ray beams were bounced off the iron atoms and watched as they transformed into liquid form, yielding the most accurate estimate yet: 6,000 degrees Kelvin.
More about the Earth and the Sun:
The liquid outer core is responsible for the Earth’s magnetic field.
The heat generated at the time of the Earth’s formation continues to be a source of heat at the Earth’s core.
It’s not yet clear to scientists why the Sun’s outermost atmosphere, or corona, is 300 times hotter than the Sun’s surface.
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