Facts About The Sun

The Sun is the center of our local solar system and the most influential object in that solar system. The Sun, a ball of hot gases, influences how this solar system works and how each planet in this solar system functions. Below are several facts about the Sun and its influence on our solar system.

Earth’s Dependence on the Sun
We are able to survive on Earth due, in a large part, to the Sun. According to NASA, the Sun gives us heat, light, food, and the air we breathe. The Sun powers the atmosphere to give us wind and rain. The coal and oil that generate electricity for light and power come from plants and animals that lived hundreds of millions of years ago and depended on the Sun for life.

The Sun provides heat for the land, oceans, and air. The Sun also evaporates water from lakes and oceans, which eventually causes rain and snow. This provides the moisture we need for drinking water and for plants to grow.

Photosynthesis
The Sun play’s a vital role in how plants turn carbon dioxide into oxygen. The Sun’s rays cause green plants to turn carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates. While doing this plants release oxygen into the air. Humans and animals rely on this oxygen to breathe. The process of production of carbohydrates by green plants is called photosynthesis. The plants use the carbohydrates as nourishment to grow and we use plants for our nourishment.

Statistics About the Sun
The Sun is made up of various gases. By weight, the Sun is 70% hydrogen, 28% helium, 1.5% carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, and 0.5% all other elements. The Sun’s core temperature is 22.5 million degrees Fahrenheit (14 million degrees Celsius) and the surface temperature is 9,932 degrees Fahrenheit (5,500 degrees Celsius). The temperature of sunspots is about 7,232 degrees Fahrenheit (4,000 degrees Celsius).

A solar cycle is about eight to eleven years and the distance to the nearest star is about 4.3 light years away. The Sun is 4.5 billion years old and the diameter of the sun is about 870,000 miles (1.4 million km). Its rotation period at the equator is 25 Earth days while its rotation period at the poles is 35 Earth days.

Facts about the Sun in Relation to the Earth
The average distance from the Sun to the Earth is 93 million miles and it takes light eight and a half minutes to travel from the Sun to the Earth. The diameter of the Sun is 109 times larger than the Earth’s and its volume is big enough to hold over a million Earths. The mass of the Sun is 330,000 times that of Earth.

> Return to Solar System Reference Section
> Return to Outer Space Main Reference Category
> Return to NEWSdial.com