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The SUN

Our Light and Heat

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The SUN is estimated to be 4.5 - 4.6 BILLION YEARS OLD! And scientist predict that it is in "middle age". That means it will be 'burnt out' in another 5 billion years!

We can look at it as being made in Day 1 of Creation (Genesis 1: 2-8) when God saw there was darkness everywhere, God said "Let there be Light" and there was light...which God separated the light from the dark calling the light Day and the dark Night.

Sun Facts

Diagram of the Sun

  • Is a Latin word derived from the word sol.

  • The Heat of the Sun is called solar energy.

  • Is at the center of our Solar System.

  • It is classified as a 'STAR' and is the closest star to Earth.

  • Why does the Sun seem like it is moving? It doesn't move. The Earth travels around it very slowly. It takes 365 days to travel around the Sun. The Earth also "rotates" (while going around the 'sol') providing us with Days and Nights. These movements of the Earth appear to us as the Sun is moving, when it is not.

  • Sustains LIFE on Earth. The Sunshine radiates from the Sun which provides us with a surplus of Light and Heat. This Energy, in the form of sunlight, supports almost all life on Earth through the process of photosynthesis.

  • The uneven heating of the Earth changes the balance of the Sun's energy in Earth's atmosphere. Warm air at the equator rises and moves toward the Polar regions, (North and South Poles). Cool air there sinks and moves toward the equator. This constant moving of 'AIR' creates Wind and Weather. It is responsible for the Earth's weather on a Sunny Day and it is equally responsible for our Stormy Weather.

  • Direct rays at the Equator heat Earth better than rays at the North and South Poles because the Earth's surface curves away from the Sun.

  • Its distance from us on Earth is approximately 93 Million miles (or 150 million kilometers).

  • The temperature at its core is 27 million degrees Fahrenheit (or 15 million degrees Celsius), while the surface of the Sun is about 9900 degrees Fahrenheit (or 5,500 degrees Celsius). The temperature gives the sun a white color, which appears most yellow to us on Earth because of the of atmospheric scattering.

  • The diameter (diameter is across, if you cut in in half) is about 864,000 miles across (1.39 million kilometers).

  • The Light from the Sun travels to Earth in 8 minutes and 19 seconds!

  • The Brightness is measured in watts, which is estimated as 380,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 Watts! Or it can be measured at 1,400 watts per square meter every minute! So, why doesn't the Earth burn to a crisp? Because the Earth soaks up only a fraction of that energy. Different parts of the the Earth's surface absorbs different amount of the energy that reaches them. For Example, water absorbs 90% of the heat, while snow absorbs only 10%. Forests absorbs 85%, cities absorbs 95%, sand absorbs 55%, mediums thickness clouds absorbs 50%. This absorbed heat is then given off, heating the air above it and driving Earth's weather.

  • The mass is about 330,000 times that of the Earth. (The mass means how many Earths can be put into the Sun...that is 330,000 Earth's)

  • Is predicted to be in its middle age. In about 5 billion years it is believed it will finish burning up its hydrogen. (Total life of 10 billion years where it will have changed into a gigantic red orb with its atmosphere nearly stretched out to the Earth!) At this point there when there is no more hydrogen in the core, forcing energy to take place in a "hydrogen burning shell". The outer layers sun start to expand while the core will contract.

  • When the Sun is 7 Billion years old it will slowly start to change and become cooler and bigger.

  • Its radius is estimated to be about 6% bigger then when it was born and 300 degrees hotter!

  • Is made up mostly of 2 Chemicals, Hydrogen and Helium. Hydrogen (about 74% of its mass, or 92% of its volume), helium (about 24% of mass, 7% of volume), and trace quantities of other elements, including iron, nickel, oxygen, silicon, sulfur, magnesium, carbon, neon, calcium, and chromium.

    Easy to Understand Solar


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