The Sun

By: Joshua Hellberg

Our solar system has a bright star that is

named The Sun. The Sun gives off heat and light so
that we can stay warm. Life here on Earth can live
because of the Sun. We are in the perfect spot in
the Solar system because we arent that close to
the Sun and were not too far from The Sun. There

are three facts that you need to know about the

Sun that you probably didnt know, but will soon.

The first fact is that the Sun or Sol is the star at

the center of our solar system and is responsible
for Earths climate and weather. The Sun is an
almost perfect sphere with a difference of just
10km in diameter between the poles and the
equator. The average radius of the sun is 695,508
km (109.2 x that of the Earth) of which 20-25% is
the core. The Suns age on average is about 4.6
Billion years old. Our type of Sun is a Yellow Dwarf
(G2V). The mass of the Sun is
1,989,100,000,000,000,000 billion kg (333,060 x
Earth).

The second fact is that when all the Hydrogen

has been burned, the Sun will continue for about
130 million more years, burning Helium, during
which time it will expand to the point that it will
engulf Mercury and Venus and the Earth. At this
stage it will have become a red giant. After its red
giant phase, the Sun will collapse, retaining its
enormous mass containing the approximate

volume of our planet. When this happens, it will be

called a White Dwarf.

The third fact is the Solar Wind. This is a

stream of charged particles, which travel through
the Solar System at approximately 450 kilometers
per second. Solar Wind occurs where the magnetic
field of the Sun extends into space instead of
following its surface. At the Suns core, energy is
generated by nuclear fusion, as Hydrogen coverts
to Helium. Because hot objects generally expand,
the Sun would explode like a giant bomb if it
werent for its enormous gravitational force.

Now do you understand why the Sun is so

important and amazing? The Sun supports life here
on Earth and keeps us from getting to old and

burning up. Scientists are still trying to figure out

important things that we humans still dont know
today. Will we survive enough to figure out the
mystery of the Sun?