Yash
Friends, we all receive sunlight. It is essential for living and is responsible for photosynthesis. It plays a very crucial role in our daily activities.
The sun is the heart of our solar system, let me share some interesting facts about the sun and these are as follows:
(1) Sun is a star
- Sun is a Yellow dwarf star and it is at the center of our solar system.
It is responsible for the change in the earth’s climate.
(2) It is middle-aged
- The age of the Sun is 4.6 billion years. It will continue to burn hydrogen for another 5 billion years. Sun is a Yellow dwarf star.
- Diameter: 1392684 Km
- Surface temperature: 5500ºC
- Mass: 1.99×10²¹ billion kg (almost 3.3 lacs times of the Earth).
(3) The energy process
The sun emits 3.8 x 1026 joules of energy every second.
It releases energy due to nuclear fusion.
The hydrogen combines to form helium.
(4) Light takes 8.33 minutes to reach the earth
- Another interesting sun facts is that light takes 8.33 minutes to reach the earth’s surface.
- The distance between the sun and earth is 150 million km (1 astronomical unit=1AU) and the speed of light is 300000 km/sec.
By using the formula:
- Time = Distance/Speed
=150 million Kms/ 300000 Kms/sec
=500 seconds
=8.33 minutes
(5) The Speed
- Sun travels at the speed of 220 Km per second in a circular orbit.
(6) It is almost a sphere
The difference between its polar and equilateral diameter is approx 10 km.
By looking at the vast diameter of the sun, we can say that this difference is nothing and makes it almost a perfect sphere.
(7) Escape Velocity
The escape velocity of the sun is 617.7 km/sec (approximately 55 times that of the earth).
The Escape velocity is the minimum velocity a body must have so as to escape from the gravitational attraction of a planet or star.
(8) Distance from the Earth
The distance between the sun and the earth changes throughout the year because of the elliptical orbit of the earth around the sun.
The distance varies from 147 million km to 152 million km.
(9) The Gravity
The sun’s gravity is 28 times that of earth.
It means a person weighing 70 kgs on earth will weigh 1960 kgs on the sun.
(10) Mass in the solar system
- Sun’s mass comprises 99.85% of the mass of the solar system.
(11) The sun will eventually engulf the planet earth
The sun generates energy through the process of nuclear fusion.
The hydrogen combines to form helium and in this process very large amount of energy is released.
When all the hydrogen will be converted to helium.
The sun will continue to burn helium for approximately 130 million years and keep on expanding.
At one stage it will engulf planet earth.
This phase will be called as Red giant phase of the sun.
(12) Sun is a kind of Plasma
This property makes it rotate faster at the equator than that at its extreme latitudes.
This differential speed makes the magnetic lines get twisted over time.
This process is called a solar dynamo.
After every 11 years, the sun reverses its magnetic polarity which is its north pole becomes the south pole and vice versa.
(13) Distance from Pluto
The distance between the sun and its outermost dwarf planet pluto is 5874 million km (39.26 AU).
The light takes approx 5.5 hours to travel from the sun to the outermost planet Pluto.
I hope, you liked these sun facts.
Thank you
