My life as a Photon

By Laura S.

 

 

I am electromagnetic radiation

Created by the sun’s nuclear fusion to produce energetic sensation

 

Beginning as gamma rays in the core, the dark non-visible light was a bore

Gamma rays weren’t all I wanted to be; I wanted more

If only nuclear fusion didn’t only produces gamma rays…..

 Converting from gamma rays to visible light was the start of one big maze

 From this maze process called “random walk’ I hoped I would later become light

Here, I pushed and shoved other photons with my high frequency

 but couldn’t escape the fight

 

My next voyage to the radiative zone continued the random walk

The temperatures dropped,

the fight stopped

The outer edge of the radiative zone had tons of absorbed photons in stock

 

Still not quite grown, 

I found the convection zone

The sun’s convection cells appeared to be fluid-like currents

                                                      Hot fluids rose, and cool fluids sank…its ok these actions were non- deterrent

 

I came across the low atmosphere of the photosphere,

 At last I started to appear

I found the zone where photons finally converted to visible light!

The photosphere emits thermal radiation (which is hot)

Here I met a sunspot,

 But ironically it was colder than its mother sun by a lot

I found it in a pair,

 I guess magnetic storms liked to share

These spots and flares release enormous amounts of energy without a care

 

Next I saw the red layer of the chromosphere

I did not want to stay near, this much I shall not adhere

 For eruptions occur in this layer

 

The corona became the next visible stage

It was the hottest outermost layer of the atmosphere

It looked extremely sparse in density

The solar winds shaped it intensely

It felt very cold, gasses moved out in all directions

 

 Soon I found myself in a solar flare

I was racing through an explosion on the sun’s surface

 that swept me across an active region in minutes stream of constant particles

I left the sun with accelerated solar material

 Blasted into space at high speeds

 Direct path towards earth, while effecting earth’s magnetic field

I safed satellites and navigational systems

The solar flare I came from caused a geometric storm

Causing ciaos to form

                                                                   While I rest here in earth, telling my story to those interested in my birth