Interesting question. I'd like to look into it. What's the resemblance?
They've recently figured out how the Photosphere can be so hot and the surface relatively cool. Energy is released at the tips of the spicules that cover the surface.
They also found a tenuous 54K° gas at the boundary of the Heliosphere.
When you stare down into a sunspot the Sun is obviously a black body, unless that's just a problem with [visual] dynamic range.
Whatever the sun is 'made of', the space surrounding it is fulled with plasma.
edit:
Can this be true?
If all the quartz for microchips come from Spruce Pine, North Carolina and China buys US$120 Billion worth each year; who has China by the short hairs.