The Sun
The Sun :
The Sun is only an average-sized star, but the energy it produces allows life to exist on Earth.
Solar Energy :
The Sun is a yellow dwarf star. Like all stars, it is a huge ball of spinning gas. Energy is produced in the Sun's core and travels to the outer part of the Sun. The high temperature and intense pressure create powerful nuclear reactions within the Sun's core.
Atoms of hydrogen smash together and fuse to form helium. This produces light and heat energy. The energy radiates outwards to the surface of the Sun which is called the photosphere.
The Speed of Light :
From the Sun's surface, light and other radiation travel to other parts of the solar system, including Earth. It takes 8 minutes and 17 seconds for this energy to reach our planet which is 150 million kilometers away from the Sun. The Sun's energy is essential for life on Earth.
It provides light for plants to grow — the basis of all food chains. The Sun also provides heat which creates our weather. The water cycle depends on this heat to bring about water evaporation — this forms clouds and rain.
AMAZING FACTS about Our Solar System :
The inner solar system is separated from the outer by the asteroid belt.
The solar system is port of the Milky Way galaxy which is a barred-spiral galaxy.
There were 9 planets in the Solar System until 2006 when the International Astronomical Union decided that Pluto could no longer be considered a plonet due to its size being smaller than our moon.
If all the planets were joined together, the Sun would still be more than 700 times bigger. It contains over 99% of the solar system's mass.
It takes two million years for gamma rays produced in the core of the Sun to reach its surface.
The Sun is the largest object the solar system. It is about 332 950 times more mossive than Earth.
The relationship between the Sun and the Earth drives the seasons, currents in the ocean, weather and climate.
The Sun has been burning for about five billion years and will bum for another five billion.
If you stood on Venus, the atmospheric pressure would be the same as if you were 900 metres underneath an ocean on Earth.
Much of the surface of Venus, including craters, has been covered in lava from previous eruptions.
Mercury and Venus are the only two planets in our solar system that don't have moons.
Mercury has the greatest variation in surface temperature of any planet in the solar system — can be over 600 degrees Celsius.
Because there is no wind or rain on the Moon, any footprints left by the astronauts should remain for millions of years.
It is thought that Earth was hit by a lorge object and the debris that was ejected into space joined together to form the Moon.
The official Latin name for planet Earth is Terra. It is named after the Roman goddess of fertility and growth - Terra Mater.
The Moon is the only other planet or satellite in the solar system that humans hove set foot upon.
