Sun

Hazy conditions, atmospheric dust, and high humidity contribute to this atmospheric attenuation. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the terms used by other players beforehand. During sunrise and sunset, sunlight is attenuated by a particularly long passage through Earth's atmosphere, and the direct Sun is sometimes faint enough to be viewed directly without discomfort or safely with binoculars. Every paintball field has its own lingo for various obstacles, bunkers, and landmarks that are unique to the site. Viewing the partially eclipsed Sun with the naked eye can cause permanent localized damage to the retina, resulting in small, permanent blind spots for the viewer.^[20] This is an especially insidious hazard for inexperienced observers and for children, because there is no immediate perception of pain and it is tempting to stare at the spectacle of the eclipsing Sun, compounding any damage. "Mercy" - This is yelled by the shooter if s/he holds an upper hand on an opponent within a close range; this is done to give the enemy a chance to surrender without being shot. Each retinal cell that is exposed to the partially-eclipsed solar image thus receives about ten times as much light as it would looking at the normal, non-eclipsed Sun. "tricked out" - A term used to describe a gun that has numerous upgrades and enhancements, oftentimes providing dubious or non-existent performance benefits.

In the dim overall light, the pupil tends to dilate from about 2 mm to perhaps 6 mm diameter, increasing the eye's collecting area by a factor of nearly 10. The snake is a unique setup because it allows a player to advance a considerable distance while still being protected from being hit from most locations on the field. During partial eclipses, most sunlight is blocked by the Moon passing directly in front of the Sun, but the uncovered parts of the photosphere have the same surface brightness as during a normal day. "Snake" (n)- In hyperball, speedball, and airball a snake is a long, low structure (less then 1 meter/3 feet high) usually located either in the middle or to one or both sides of a field. The pupil is controlled by the total amount of light in the visual field, not by the brightest object in the field. This allows referees with sound-activated timers to monitor rate of fire during games. During partial eclipses of the Sun, another hazardous condition exists because of the way the eye responds to bright light. In response to the popularity of ramping (and the difficulty of catching violators), some organizations have abandoned a strict semi-auto-only policy and adopted a 15 ball-per-second cap in its place.

Even brief glances at the midday Sun through unfiltered binoculars can cause permanent blindness.^[19]. Many "ramp boards" also incorporate elaborate schemes to conceal this feature from tournament referees, including a simple "panic button" trigger press sequence to turn ramping off before a marker can be confiscated and tested, and randomized rate of fire to mask the fact that the trigger activity doesn't match the actual firing of paintballs. Viewing the Sun through unfiltered 7x50 mm binoculars can deliver as much as 2.5 watts of sunlight into each eye, over 300 times more power than naked eye viewing. "Ramping" (v)- A feature enabled in many aftermarket electronic marker 'mod boards' that functions as de-facto full-auto; while in ramping mode, pulling the trigger faster than a preset lower limit (typically 5 or more times a second) causes the marker to "ramp" to its maximum preset rate of fire, which can exceed 20 balls per second, or to fire as quickly as the hopper can supply balls to the breech. Using a proper filter is very important as some improvised filters reduce visible light while passing either infrared or ultraviolet rays that can still damage the eye. "Maxed" (n)(v)- In tournament play, a team successfully eliminating all opposing players, losing none of their own players and successfully hanging the opponent's flag within the allotted game time is said to have "maxed" the other team (that is, they have achieved the maximum points possible in the game). Suitable filters are available at welding supply shops and camera stores. It can also be used to describe a situation in which an individual or team excercised a great advantage to defeat the other player or team.

Viewing the Sun through light-concentrating optics such as binoculars is hazardous without an attenuating (ND) filter to dim the sunlight. It is often used to describe someone who has been marked several times. Brief viewing of the full direct Sun with the naked eye is unpleasant but generally safe.^[18]. "Lit up" - An expression connotating overwhelming victory. Direct viewing of the Sun with the naked eye delivers about 4 milliwatts of sunlight to the retina that is in the solar image, heating it up and potentially (though not normally) damaging it. These electronic laser systems help prevent chopping in markers and help markers reach higher rates of fire consistently. Looking directly at the Sun when it is high in the sky causes temporary bleaching of the photosensitive pigments in the retina, which makes phosphene visual artifacts and may cause temporary partial blindness. If a ball enters the breech, the laser will be reflected back into the eye, indicating that a ball is ready to be fired.

Sunlight is very bright, and looking directly at the Sun is painful to the eyes. Reflective sends a laser across the breech from one eye. The energy stored in petroleum is thought to have been converted from sunlight by photosynthesis in the distant past. When a ball enters the breech of the marker, it breaks the laser, telling the marker that a ball is ready to be fired. Photosynthesis by plants captures the energy of sunlight and converts it to chemical form (oxygen and reduced carbon compounds), while direct heating or electrical conversion by solar cells are used by solar power equipment to generate electricity or do other useful work. Breakbeam incorporates two eyes which send a laser across the breech to one another. This energy can be harnessed through several natural and synthetic processes. There are two types; breakbeam and reflective.

Sunlight on the surface of Earth is attenuated by the Earth's atmosphere, so that less power arrives at the surface — closer to 1000 watts per directly exposed square meter in clear conditions when the Sun is near the zenith. "eye/eyes/ACE" (n) - A laser detection system installed on electronic markers. near Earth. "chop a snake" - A process in which one player will fire over the head of an opponent located behind a snake, pinning him down, while another will advance along the lengh of the snake eliminating the opponent. from the Sun, i.e. Many markers have special technology to prevent them from firing before a paintball has fed completely or to reduce the speed of the bolt so that it can't break a partially fed paintball. It is about 1370 watts per square meter of area, one A.U. Chops are usually caused by a marker shooting too fast for the speed at which the loader can feed it, or sometimes by misshapen paint that does not feed properly or low pressure or mechanical failure that causes the bolt to actuate more than once in quick succession.

The solar constant is the amount of power that the Sun deposits per unit area that is directly exposed to sunlight. The force of the bolt of the marker moving forward will then cut the paintball in half inside the marker's chamber, creating a rather unpleasant mess that will prevent the marker from shooting accurately until cleaned. Sunlight — that is, light radiated from the surface of the Sun — is thought to be the main source of energy near the surface of Earth. "chop" - Sometimes a marker may fire when a paintball has only fed partially into the breech. Thus, the Sun was considered by Greek astronomers to be one of the seven planets (Greek planetes "wanderer"), after which the seven days of the week are named in some languages. Necessary because hits on hard equipment may not be noticed by the player, and hits that do not leave a mark do not count, so a player may need another person to check to see if a hit broke when it is on an area of the body the player cannot readily see. With respect to the fixed stars, the Sun appears from Earth to revolve once a year along the ecliptic through the zodiac. "paint check" (v) - When an official or another player inspects a player for hits.

It was only after Einstein's theory of mass-energy convertibility in the early 20th century that it was finally understood that the sun runs on nuclear fusion and is billions of years old, with several other billion to go. If the teammates are looking the wrong way, or there are no teammates left, an opposing player can often run straight up to the player's bunker without the player seeing him and "bunker" the player by shooting directly over or around the side of the cover. In the early years of the modern scientific era, it was proposed that the Sun extracted its energy from friction of its gas masses, which would yield a Sun no older than a few million years, with a few more million years to go. "bunker" (v) - When a player is behind a bunker, the bunker blocks that player's view of the field in front of him, forcing the player to occasionally look out from behind the bunker (and risk being hit) or rely on teammates to prevent opposing players from advancing through that area. For teaching this heresy he was imprisoned by the authorities and sentenced to death (though later released through the intervention of Pericles). In speedball, vrtually all objects placed on an otherwise empty grass field are "bunkers", and in most modern speedball tournaments, bunkers are inflatable vinyl obstacles (like river rafts with more basic and varied shapes). One of the first people in the Western world to offer a scientific explanation for the sun was the Greek philosopher Anaxagoras, who reasoned that it was a giant flaming ball of metal even larger than the Peleponessus, and not the chariot of Helios. In wooded play, a bunker may be a large fallen log, a collection of wood, a constucted obstacle of wood, barrels, or other material, or even a dug-out depression in the ground.

In many prehistoric and ancient cultures, the Sun was thought to be a deity or other supernatural phenomenon. "bunker" (n) - A non-natural obstacle on the field of play suitable for use as cover. Mankind's most fundamental understanding of the Sun is as the luminous disk in the heavens whose presence above the horizon creates day, and whose absence causes night. Sometimes refered to as "Extra Love". This stellar evolution scenario is typical of low to medium mass stars. A player may receive bonus balls due to the increasingly fast rate of fire of markers in tournament play, walking through a spot another player is shooting, or occasionally by being intentionally shot by an opponent. The Sun will then evolve into a white dwarf, slowly cooling over eons. "bonus ball" (v)- Hits a player receives after being eliminated, usually while leaving the field of play.

Following the red giant phase, giant thermal pulsations will cause the Sun to throw off its outer layers forming a planetary nebula. Paintball is ranked ahead of snowboarding by a large margin. While it is likely that the expansion of the outer layers of the Sun will reach the current position of Earth's orbit, recent research suggests that mass lost from the Sun earlier in its red giant phase will cause the Earth's orbit to move further out, preventing it from being engulfed. According to the Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association International's (SGMA) 2005 stats, paintball is the third most popular 'extreme sport' in the world, following skateboarding and inline skating. Helium fusion will begin when the core temperature reaches about 3×10⁸ K. Growing Popularity. Instead, in 4-5 billion years it will enter its red giant phase, its outer layers expanding as the hydrogen fuel in the core is consumed and the core contracts and heats up. Good equipment does lend a competitive edge, but it is possible to get good results with relatively inexpensive equipment, and skill trumps gear quality.

Our Sun does not have enough mass to explode as a supernova, and its mass is below the Chandrasekhar limit. Many players believe that more expensive and higher quality equipment determines how well a person plays. This is suggested by a high abundance of heavy elements such as iron, gold and uranium in the solar system: the most plausible ways that these elements could be produced are by endothermic nuclear reactions during a supernova or by transmutation via neutron absorption inside a massive first generation star. Quality of Equipment. The Sun is thought to be a second-generation star, whose formation may have been triggered by shockwaves from a nearby supernova. Many fields forbid the use of full-auto markers, which are illegal in many countries (for example the UK). It returned to Earth in 2004 and is undergoing analysis, but it was damaged by crash-landing when its parachute failed to deploy on reentry to Earth's atmosphere. Paintball fields require anyone near the field to wear a face mask, and that markers shoot at a velocity of less than 300 feet per second.

A solar wind sample return mission, Genesis, was designed to allow astronomers to directly measure the composition of solar material. As long as the players follow the rules, paintball is an entirely safe sport. Elemental abundances in the photosphere are well known from spectroscopic studies, but the composition of the interior of the Sun is much less well known. Recent statistics from various insurance companies have proven that paintball is actually safer than traditional sports, such as football. It has proved so useful that a follow-on mission, the Solar Dynamics Observatory, is planned for launch in 2008. Another common misconception of paintball is that it is dangerous. Originally a two-year mission, SOHO is now over ten years old (as of late 2005). Injury and Danger.

To obtain an uninterrupted view of the Sun, the European Space Agency and NASA cooperatively launched the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) on December 2, 1995. Tournaments include aspects of traditional sports: players wear bright colors as fans watch the action behind safety netting and film crews record nearly all top competitive events for DVD or TV. The North/South swing in apparent angle is the main source of seasons on Earth. And "scenario" paintball games seek to re-enact historic wars and battles, not to encourage violence. The most obvious variation in the Sun's apparent position through the year is a North/South swing over 47 degrees of angle, due to the 23.5 degree tilt of the Earth, but there is an East/West component as well. Today's markers are generally not designed to mimic firearms. The shape described by the Sun's position, considered at the same time each day for a complete year, is called the analemma, and resembles a figure 8, aligned along the North/South direction. Paintball fields do not tolerate physical violence (contact with an opponent is usually forbidden) nor even verbal abuse.

Observed from Earth, the path of the Sun across the sky varies throughout the year. The paintball community generally works to dispel this image, increasing the public's exposure to paintball is seen as crucial to breaking down stereotypes. the interplanetary medium) in a magnetic field, induces electric currents which in turn generates magnetic fields, and in this respect it behaves like an MHD dynamo. Additionally, paintball has been used for close combat training by both law enforcement agencies and terrorist groups. Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) theory predicts that the motion of a conducting fluid (e.g. One common misconception is that paintball simulates war and encourages violence, thanks largely to vandalism, and the small, but noticeable resemblance of markers to firearms and the donning of camouflage for woodsball. But satellite observations show that it is about 100 times greater at around 10^-9 tesla. War and Violence.

If space were a vacuum, then the Sun's 10^-4 tesla magnetic dipole field would reduce with the cube of the distance to about 10^-11 tesla. Various misconceptions are held by players as well as people who have never seen a paintball marker. The plasma in the interplanetary medium is also responsible for the strength of the Sun's magnetic field at the orbit of the Earth being over 100 times greater than originally anticipated. Paintball has proved to be an extremely safe sport and its good record comes from the uncompromising emphasis on safety. The influence of the Sun's rotating magnetic field on the plasma in the interplanetary medium creates the largest structure in the Solar System, the Heliospheric current sheet. Chronographs or "Chronos" can be found from $60-250 and can greatly help the safety of everyone playing. The magnetic field of the sun reverses once for each 11-year sunspot cycle. It is recommended that everyone playing outlaw games, get their guns "chronoed" or speed check before playing.

The solar activity cycle includes old magnetic fields being stripped off the Sun's surface starting from one pole and ending at the other. Many players involved in outlaw games will tend to have their guns firing "hot" or above this speed. (See magnetic reconnection). The allowed speeds usually range from around 250 Feet Per Second to the highest allowed speed of 300 FPS. The differential rotation of the Sun's latitudes causes its magnetic field lines to become twisted together over time, causing magnetic field loops to erupt from the Sun's surface and trigger the formation of the Sun's dramatic sunspots and solar prominences. This reduces the possibility of mask failure, and will leave less of an injury when you are hit. This makes it possible for the Sun to rotate faster at its equator (about 25 days) than it does at higher latitudes (28 days near its poles). Besides mandatory use of masks, fields require that markers don't fire above certain speeds.

All matter in the Sun is in the form of gas and plasma due to its high temperatures. Do not be surprised if you are pushed down or otherwise covered by players and/or refs. Others suggest that cosmic rays might strongly influence the Earth's climate, and that their flux was much higher in the early history of the solar system ^[17]. Players or refs will come running to help. Some scientists have suggested that the young Earth's atmosphere contained much larger quantities of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and/or ammonia than are present today ^[16]. If your mask falls off during a game, drop to your knees and cover your eyes with your arm or hands while yelling for assistance and/or a ceasefire repeatedly. In fact, the young Earth was actually warmer than it is today. A ref or another player will lead you to a safe area.

However, the geologic record shows that the Earth has remained at a fairly constant temperature throughout its history. If you find your mask is covered with paint, sweat, or dirt, and you cannot see well enough to safely get off the field, stand with both hands in the air and yell (usually "Fogged!") for assistance. Such a weak star would not have been able to sustain liquid water on the Earth's surface, and thus life should not have been able to develop. Under no circumstances should eye protection ever be removed on a live field. Theoretical models of the sun's development suggest that 3.8 to 2.5 billion years ago, during the Archean period, the Sun was only about 75 percent as bright as it is today. This means players must wear only paintball-specific goggles and facemasks at all times while playing, even if they are out. One possible candidate to explain coronal heating is continuous flaring at small scales ^[15], but this is still an open topic of investigation. Safety is paramount while playing paintball and is strictly enforced.

Current research focus has therefore shifted towards flare heating mechanisms. If you think you may have been hit the ref of the current game will run over and complete a "paint check" to evaluate whether you have been marked or not. In addition, Alfven waves do not easily dissipate in the corona ^[14]. The idea is to get as close to the opponent as possible, as fast as you can, so that you can catch the other player off guard, giving them little to no time to react, and giving you little to no chance to miss due to the close range. All waves except Alfven waves have been found to dissipate or refract before reaching the corona (^[12], ^[13]). This refers to running/charging up to the bunker or barricade that an opposing player is behind and tagging them at very close range. Currently, it is unclear whether waves are an efficient heating mechanism. Another popular move is "bunkering".

^[8], ^[9], ^[10], ^[11]. Moves such as a 'run through', where a player sprints down the field shooting as many of the opposing team as he can, have developed over time and are now very important plays. The other proposed mechanism is flare heating, in which magnetic energy is continuously built up by photospheric motion and released through magnetic reconnection in the form of solar flares and waves. If you catch an opponent off guard, you are free to fire at him. These waves travel upward and dissipate in the corona, depositing their energy in the ambient gas in the form of heat. In almost all tournament play, there is no surrender rule. Two main mechanisms have been proposed to explain coronal heating: Wave heating, in which sound, gravitational and magnetohydrodynamic waves are produced by turbulence in the convection zone. Keep in mind that while waiting for a response you can still be hit by other opponents.

It is thought that the energy necessary to heat the corona is provided by turbulent motion in the convection zone below the photosphere. However, if they refuse and attempt any hostile action (such as turning to fire at you), you may fire upon them. The high temperature of the corona shows that it is heated by something other than the photosphere. If your opponent complies (verbally, see above or by raising their hand or marker), they are considered marked and are out of the match. Above it lies the solar corona with a temperature of one million kelvins. Some fields require that if you are within a certain distance of an unaware opponent, you must demand their surrender (by yelling "Surrender!") before you may open fire. The optical surface of the Sun (the photosphere) is known to have a temperature of about 6,000 K. This is you and one other teammate are eliminated from the current round for cheating.

Thus, measurement and theory have been reconciled. In most instances a penalty of 1 for 1 will be called. It has recently been found that neutrinos have rest mass, and can therefore transform into harder-to-detect varieties of neutrinos while en route from the Sun to Earth in a process known as neutrino oscillation ^[7]. This is cheating in its lowest form and could get you banned from the field. Several neutrino observatories were constructed, including the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory and Kamiokande to try to measure the solar neutrino flux. Some people, when hit, will wipe off the paint and continue playing. For some time it was thought that the number of neutrinos produced by the nuclear reactions in the Sun was only a third of the number predicted by theory, a result that was termed the solar neutrino problem. If you believe that you have tagged another player, but they are not calling themeselves out, you can always shout for a paint check on that person.

The temperature of the corona is several megakelvins. If you are lucky, a paintball will simply bounce off of you, and will not count as a hit. The low corona, which is very near the surface of the Sun, has a particle density of 10¹¹/m³ (Earth's atmosphere near sea level has a particle density of about 2x10²⁵/m³). You should always check to see if a paintball that has hit you has indeed broken. The corona merges smoothly with the solar wind that fills the solar system and heliosphere. Remember that even if you are not marked, exclaiming "I'm hit" will eliminate you from the game. The corona is the extended outer atmosphere of the Sun, which is much larger in volume than the Sun itself. In some cases, depending on the field's rules, being checked by a referee does not make you invulnerable.

It is called the chromosphere from the Greek root chroma, meaning color, because the chromosphere is visible as a colored flash at the beginning and end of total eclipses of the Sun. Usually, if there is any spot that isn't clearly a hit or larger than a quarter, it will not be considered a hit. Above the visible surface of the Sun is a thin layer, about 2,000km thick, that is dominated by a spectrum of emission and absorption lines. A referee will come over and make a judgment call. This part of the Sun is cool enough to support simple molecules such as carbon monoxide and water which can be detected by their absorption spectra. If you believe the paintball broke before impact, or if you cannot see the area to confirm a hit, then you should call for a paint check (by yelling "paint check"). It is about 4,000 K. Generally if you are marked (hit) anywhere on your body, or on anything you are carrying (marker, hopper, pods) and the paintball broke upon impact, you have been marked.

The coolest layer of the Sun is the temperature minimum region about 500km above the photosphere.
. They can be viewed with telescopes operating across the electromagnetic spectrum, from radio through visible light to gamma rays. For information on tactics, see paintball strategy. The parts of the Sun above the photosphere are referred to collectively as the solar atmosphere. These are the most common regulations, and do not include tips for playing. The photosphere has a particle density of about 10²³/m³ (this is about 1% of the particle density of Earth's atmosphere at sea level). Variations of the following rules are in effect at most fields.

Sunlight has approximately a black-body spectrum that indicates its temperature is about 6,000 K, interspersed with atomic absorption lines from the tenuous layers above the photosphere. When playing at a field for the first time, be sure to check up on the field rules. Conversely, the visible light we see is produced as electrons react with hydrogen atoms to produce H^- ions. Major scenario and tournament events may sometimes occur at other locations like fairgrounds, military bases, or stadiums, essentially creating a temporary paintball park, including the trained staff and insurance found at permanent commercial paintball parks. The change in opacity has to do with the decreasing amount of H^- ions, which absorb visible light easily. Private landowners may also be liable for injuries sustained on their property, especially if there are any fees for play. Above the photosphere, sunlight is free to propagate into space and its energy escapes the Sun entirely. While less expensive, and often less structured than play at a commerical facility, due to the lack of standards, instruction, and oversight, the vast majority of injuries incured by paintball players occur in a "renegade" setting.

The visible surface of the Sun, the photosphere, is the layer below which the Sun becomes opaque to visible light. Some players play on private land, often refered to as "renegade" play. The turbulent convection of this outer part of the solar interior gives rise to a 'small-scale' dynamo that produces magnetic north and south poles all over the surface of the Sun. Commercial fields adhere to specific safety and insurance standards and have employed staff (often called referees) whose job is to make sure players are instructed in proper play and play in a manner that insures all participants' safety. The thermal columns in the convection zone form an imprint on the surface of the Sun, in the form of the solar granulation and supergranulation. Additionally, some commercial fields offer fast-paced indoor game play, often with multiple rooms. Convective overshoot is thought to occur at the base of the convection zone, carrying turbulent downflows into the outer layers of the radiative zone. A paintball park may be an area of woods, a complex of speedball fields, or a combination.

Once the material cools off at the surface, it plunges back downward to the base of the convection zone, to receive more heat from the top of the radiative zone. Most players play, and most scenario games and tournaments occur, at commercial, insured paintball parks. As a result, thermal convection occurs as thermal columns carry hot material to the surface (photosphere) of the Sun. While these two groups differ in style of play and appearance, the most devoted members of both groups may spend thousands of dollars per year not only on paintball equipment, but also on travel to paintball events. From about 0.7 solar radii to 1.0 solar radii, the material in the Sun is not dense enough or hot enough to transfer the heat energy of the interior outward via radiation. These frequent participants can generally be divided into two groups: Scenario players and tournament players. Because of this, it can take a photon nearly 1,000,000 years to reach the photosphere. According to the Sporting Goods Manufacturer's Association, of the approximately 10 million people who participate in paintball annually, only about 15% (1.5 million) of them play 15 or more times per year.

Heat is transferred by ions of hydrogen and helium emitting photons, which travel a brief distance before being re-absorbed by other ions. Recreational players may play at commercial, insured paintball parks, or on private land (often referred to as "renegade"). In this zone, there is no thermal convection: while the material grows cooler with altitude, this temperature gradient is slower than the adiabatic lapse rate and hence cannot drive convection. The recreational class of player encompasses a range of levels of involvement in the sport, from occasional players like members of church groups or people attending birthday or bachelor parties, through more regular players who may own their own entry-level equipment, but do not play in tournaments. From about 0.2 to about 0.7 solar radii, the material is hot and dense enough that thermal radiation is sufficient to transfer the intense heat of the core outward. Players usually fall into three categories: recreational, scenario or big game, and tournament. Neutrinos are also released in the fusion reactions in the core, but unlike photons they very rarely interact with matter, and so almost all are able to escape the Sun immediately. The leagues consist of a whole circuit of paintball tournaments, but smaller regional and locally-sponsored tournaments are very common.

Upon reaching the surface after a final trip through the convective outer layer, the photons escape as visible light. The major leagues are National Professional Paintball League (NPPL), Paintball Sports Promotions™ (PSP), and Millennium Series. 65) to as little as 17,000 years [6]. Due to the competitive nature, most tournament players use high-end markers capable of higher rates of fire. Lewis, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Universe, Harmony Books, New York, 1983, p. There is a set number of people on each team (commonly three, five or seven), and modern tournament play is primarily speedball. Estimates of the "photon travel time" range from as much as 50 million years (Richard S. Tournament paintball is played by the same rules as normal paintball, but in a more competitive environment.

The high-energy photons (gamma and X rays) released in fusion reactions take a long time to reach the Sun's surface, slowed down by the indirect path taken, as well as constant absorption and re-emission at lower energies in the solar mantle (see below). The Millennium Series, the Nordic Series, the former European X-Ball League, the Centurio Circuit, the XSPL, the Paintball Association in the UK and many more leagues exist and draw large numbers of teams and fans. All of the energy of the interior fusion must travel through the successive layers to the solar photosphere, before it escapes to space. These aren't the only leagues, however, as most regions both inside and outside the USA have leagues. The core extends from the center of the Sun to about 0.2 solar radii, and is the only part of the Sun where an appreciable amount of heat is produced by fusion: the rest of the star is heated by energy that is transferred outward. Current professional and semi-professional leagues, such as the NXL (National X-Ball League), NPPL (National Professional Paintball League), NCPA (National Collegiate Paintball Association), CFOA (Carolina Field Owners Association) the NEPL (New England Paintball League),the WPL (World Paintball League) and the SPPL (Scenario Paintball Players League), regularly hold high-class, well-organized events. About 8.9×10³⁷ protons (hydrogen nuclei) are converted to helium nuclei every second, releasing energy at the matter-energy conversion rate of 4.26 million tonnes per second or 383 yottawatts (9.15×10¹⁶ tons of TNT per second). Some paintball parks have added dedicated reball fields.

At the center of the Sun, where its density reaches up to 150,000 kg/m³ (150 times the density of water on Earth), thermonuclear reactions (nuclear fusion) convert hydrogen into helium, producing the energy that keeps the Sun in a state of equilibrium. A reball is more expensive than a paintball, but since they can be reused, they are cheaper over the long term. Computer modeling of the Sun is also used as a theoretical tool to investigate its deep layers. While they do not break open to leave a paint mark on players, the lack of filling makes them useful for indoor locations where accumulation of paint from broken paintballs would be a problem. However, just as the study of the waves generated by earthquakes (seismology) can be used to study the interior structure of the Earth, helioseismology, the study of sound waves that travel through the Sun's interior, has also contributed greatly to our understanding of the Sun's structure. Reballs are approximately the same size and weight of a paintball, but do not contain a paint filling. The solar interior is not directly observable and the Sun itself is opaque to electromagnetic radiation. A "reball" is a solid, dense-foam substitute for a paintball.

Most of the mass is within about 0.7 radii. The first team to reach a set point total (commonly 5 or 7 points), or the team with the highest point total after game time has elapsed, wins the match. This is simply the layer above which the gases are too cool or too thin to radiate a significant amount of light. The X-Ball Light variant has one period, typically 15 minutes long. The Sun's radius is measured from centre to the edges of the photosphere. X-Ball has taken root at the national level, although variations are found in regional and local competition. Nevertheless, the Sun has a well-defined interior structure, described below. Players who receive penalties are not permanently removed from the game, but placed in a hockey-like penalty box for several minutes.

The Sun does not have a definite boundary as rocky planets do, as the density of its gases drops off following an approximately exponential relationship with distance from the centre of the Sun. Unlike most tournament formats that forbid players to communicate with people on the sidelines, X-Ball allows a coach to advise players on the field. The mass of the Sun is so comparatively great that the center of mass of the solar system is generally within the bounds of the Sun itself. Teams of up to 18 players field five players at a time. Tidal effects from the planets do not significantly affect the shape of the Sun, although the Sun itself orbits the center of mass of the solar system, which is offset from the Sun's center mostly because of the large mass of Jupiter. The winner is the team with the most victories after two 16- to 20-minute halves. This is because the centrifugal effect of the Sun's slow rotation is 18 million times weaker than its surface gravity (at the equator). A newer tournament format, X-Ball pits two teams against each other in multiple rounds of Center Flag played one after another until time runs out.

The Sun is a near-perfect sphere, with an oblateness estimated at about 9 millionths, which means the polar diameter differs from the equatorial by about 10 km. Popular non-Xball center-flag formats include:. The astronomical symbol for the Sun is a circle with a point at its centre: . Teams play several other teams, accumulating points in each game for acts such as being the first to get the flag, bringing the flag to the goal, eliminating opposing players, and having uneliminated players left at the end of the game. Compared to the average movement of other stars in the area, the Sun is moving with a speed of 20 km/s toward the star Vega. The most common tournament formats pit two teams of three, five, or seven players against each other. The orbital speed is 217 km/s, equivalent to one light year every 1400 years, and one AU every 8 days. Woodsball tournaments, the original and once the most popular format, have largely given way to speedball fields, whose inflatable bunkers can be moved between matches or tournament stages.

The Sun orbits the center of the Milky Way galaxy at a distance of about 25,000 to 28,000 light-years from the galactic centre, completing one revolution in about 226 million years. Modern tournament paintball has developed in earnest since roughly 1990. Its current age is thought to be about 4.5 billion years, a figure which is determined using computer models of stellar evolution, and nucleocosmochronology ^[5]. The largest is probably "Oklahoma D-Day" which drew more than 3,500 in 2005, plays across 700 acres of land and includes some 15 "paintball tanks" and pontoon-built landing craft. The Sun has a predicted main sequence lifetime of about 10 billion years. Skirmish Paintball in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania holds several every year, including The Battle of Stalingrad and the Battle of Normandy, which drew more than 3,000 attendees in 2005. The Sun has a spectral class of G2V, with the G2 meaning that its color is yellow and its spectrum contains spectral lines of ionized and neutral metals as well as very weak hydrogen lines [3], and the V signifying that it, like most stars, is a "main sequence" star [4]. Scenario games can last hours or even days, and bigger games often have player re-insertions at set intervals.

The Sun is classified as a main sequence star, which means it is in a state of "hydrostatic balance", neither contracting nor expanding, and is generating its energy through nuclear fusion of hydrogen nuclei into helium. Scenario paintball games are often larger-scale re-enactments of historical battles involving hundreds of people, such as the Battle of Normandy, or modern scenarios such as storming a building and rescuing hostages. . Most national and local tournaments and leagues are built around speedball. See below for details. The close quarters foster a lot of movement and "bunkering", or running up to an opposing player's bunker and eliminating them from close range. Looking directly at the Sun can damage the retina and one's eyesight. Artificial barriers (bunkers), often inflatable, are placed throughout the field for players to move between and hide behind.