What is the Sun? | Types, Definition, Structure, Function & Facts

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What is the Sun like?

The Sun is a yellow dwarf star at the center of our solar system. All the planets in the solar system revolve around the Sun. The Sun and Solar System revolve around the center of our Galaxy, the Milky Way.

Although the Sun is a relatively small star in the universe, it is very large compared to our solar system. Even with gas giant planets like Jupiter and Saturn, the Sun contains 99.8% of the total mass in the Solar System.

The sun is made up of superheated hydrogen and helium. Hydrogen makes up about 74% of the Sun’s mass. At the center of the Sun, hydrogen atoms, under the intense pressure of gravity, undergo a process called nuclear fusion and are converted into helium atoms. Nuclear fusion generates an enormous amount of heat which causes radiation and eventually sunlight to reach the Earth.

The sun is the main source of energy for the solar system and for life on earth. Plants use photosynthesis to harness energy from the sun. Even the energy we get from fossil fuels like petroleum comes from the Sun. We can also use solar cells to convert solar energy directly into electricity.

Highlights of Sun:

Mass 333 thousand times the mass of Earth
Diameter 109 times the diameter of Earth
Temperature 5,500 degrees C (10,000 degrees F) on the surface
Distance from Earth 150 million kilometers (93 million miles)
Age 4.5 billion years

How do we know about the Sun?

The sun has been studied by humans, scientists and astronomers since human existence. In the 16th and 17th centuries, astronomers such as Galileo and Isaac Newton began to study the Sun and learned that planets orbit the Sun due to gravity. In the early 1900s, Albert Einstein used the formula E=MC^2 to explain how the Sun produces so much energy.
In 1920, Arthur Eddington explained how the extreme pressure at the center of the Sun could induce nuclear fusion and, therefore, generate large amounts of heat and energy. Since 1959, many space missions have observed and studied the Sun, solar wind, and sunspots to provide us with more and more information about the Sun and this giant center of the Sun. Solar system.

Interesting Facts About the Sun

The Sun is officially classified as a G-type main sequence star.

The distance from the Sun to Earth is used for a standard unit of measurement called the astronomical unit (au).

The sun is worshiped by many cultures as a god, including the ancient Egyptian sun god Ra.

The sun revolves around the center of the Milky Way. It takes between 225 and 250 million years for the Sun to complete its orbit through the Milky Way.

The Sun is expected to remain stable for the next 5 billion years.

The Sun’s outer atmosphere is constantly releasing a stream of charged particles called the solar wind.