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What is the Sun made of? |
by Brian Griffin (whyzz writer) >> more about the author
The Sun is a very powerful star at the center of our Solar System. We know that it gives off light and heat because when we see it in the sky, it is daylight and it is warmer! But what causes all that light and heat?
The Sun has two main ingredients: the elements hydrogen and helium. On the Sun, these two elements are continually exploding! The Sun doesn't burn like a log in a fireplace. It is like a super powerful bomb that is always going off!
People couldn't survive on the Sun. The Earth couldn't even survive on the Sun! The Sun is over 1 million times bigger than the Earth and the temperature there is 10,000°F at its coldest!
The Galaxy and Beyond!
The Sun is at the center of our Solar System. To us, it's very important, it gives off a lot of energy that we need to survive! It is also a star, a lot like all of the billions of other stars in the the Milky Way Galaxy, and a lot like the billions more in other galaxies besides our own.
With all of the stars out there like our Sun, do you think there could be another planet like our Earth? Imagine what other planets might be out in space. What might they look like? On a clear night, look up at the stars in the sky and imagine that around each of those stars there could be other planets. Who knows? Maybe around one of those stars there's a planet with someone on it looking back at us, imagining the same thing.
The Sun has two main ingredients: the elements hydrogen and helium. On the Sun, these two elements are continually exploding! The Sun doesn't burn like a log in a fireplace. It is like a super powerful bomb that is always going off!
People couldn't survive on the Sun. The Earth couldn't even survive on the Sun! The Sun is over 1 million times bigger than the Earth and the temperature there is 10,000°F at its coldest!
The Galaxy and Beyond!
The Sun is at the center of our Solar System. To us, it's very important, it gives off a lot of energy that we need to survive! It is also a star, a lot like all of the billions of other stars in the the Milky Way Galaxy, and a lot like the billions more in other galaxies besides our own.
With all of the stars out there like our Sun, do you think there could be another planet like our Earth? Imagine what other planets might be out in space. What might they look like? On a clear night, look up at the stars in the sky and imagine that around each of those stars there could be other planets. Who knows? Maybe around one of those stars there's a planet with someone on it looking back at us, imagining the same thing.
- "Sun." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2010. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 16 Apr. 2010.
- "Sun Could Fit 1 Million Earths." Ask a Scientist. 2 May 2001. Cornell Center for Materials Research. 16 Apr. 2010.