convection zone
Sign in to saveAlso known as convective layer, convective shell, convective envelope, convective zone, convective region
(of a star) layer which is unstable to convection. Energy is primarily or partially transported by convection in such a region
~7 min read
Encyclopedic overview
An illustration of the structure of the Sun and a red giant star, showing their convective zones. These are the granular zones in the outer layers of the stars.
A convection zone of a star is a layer which is unstable due to convection. Energy is primarily or partially transported by convection in such a region. In a radiation zone, energy is transported by radiation and conduction.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “convection zone” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.