The Sun is the star at the centre of our solar system. It is a giant ball of hot plasma held together by its own gravity.
Here are some basic facts about the Sun:
- Age: 4.6 Billion Years.
- Star type: Yellow Dwarf (G2V).
- Diameter: 1,392,684 km (109 x Earth).
- Mass: 333,060 x Earth.
- Surface temperature: 5500 °C.
- Internal temperature: 15 million °C.
- Composition: Hydrogen (72%), and helium (26%).
- Energy generation: Thermo-nuclear fusion using hydrogen as fuel.
- Energy production: Equal to 100 billion tons of dynamite per second.
- Energy output: Electromagnetic radiation.
- Electromagnetic radiation emitted by the Sun = Solar energy or solar radiation.
- Visible solar radiation = Sunlight.
- Sunlight: Takes 8 minutes to reach Earth (150 million km).
- Wavelengths between red and violet are visible to the human eye.
Related diagrams
Each diagram below can be viewed on its own page with a full explanation.
References
- The Sun is the star at the centre of our solar system. It is a giant ball of hot plasma held together by its own gravity.
- Here are some basic facts about the Sun:
- Age: 4.6 Billion Years.
- Star type: Yellow Dwarf (G2V).
- Diameter: 1,392,684 km (109 x Earth).
- Mass: 333,060 x Earth.
- Surface temperature: 5500 °C.
- Internal temperature: 15 million °C.
- Composition: Hydrogen (72%), and helium (26%).