The Sun

The Sun is very hot (more than 15,000,000º C at it's core) and bright and it gives the Solar System it's heat and light. Without the Sun the Earth would be a cold dark rock drifting aimlessly through space and the Solar System would not exist.

• Although the Sun looks huge and bright to us, when compared to many of the other stars we see in the night sky it is quite small. It only looks brighter and larger than other stars because it is much, much closer.   To astronomers, the Sun is classified as a yellow dwarf.
• The Sun is about 4.6 billion years old - and it still gets spots! These spots are simply cooler areas on the Sun's surface. The average Sun spot lasts about a week before it disappears.
• Every so often, burning gas from the surface of the Sun shoots thousands of miles into space. These are called 'Solar Flares'.
• The Sun's gravity is so strong that if a man could go to the surface of the Sun he would weigh about 28 tonnes and be crushed under his own weight.
• The Sun is large enough to fit over a million planets the size of Earth inside it.
• Many ancient peoples worshipped the Sun as a God, and believed that a solar eclipse meant that the God was angry with them!