Whenever we look at our sky in the morning or at any other time of a normal day we see clouds and a small round shiny thing we like to call the Sun. Sun has always fascinated mankind. But it is almost impossible to watch it through a naked eye and it is also advisable not to look at it thorough your best portable telescope or binocular also. As it may damage your eyes and also the telescopes. You would be surprised to know that the small round thing is 3,30,000 bigger than the earth we live on. The Sun is a G-type Main-sequence star at the center of our Solar System which consists of 8 planets including our earth.

It is a perfect sphere in shape and is made of hot plasma. Earth has many minor sources of energy but so far the Sun is the biggest source of energy. Sun’s mass mostly consists of hydrogen(73%) and the rest 27% consists of mostly Helium(25%) and other heavier elements in very small quantities i.e- oxygen, carbon, neon, and iron. For humans, the main role that the Sun plays is that it warms our seas, stirs our atmosphere, generates our weather and energy to flora to grow which further provides food and oxygen to the inhibiting life on earth. Other than Heat and light there are other heavily important and necessary things that the Sun does that we don’t know. Here are 10 important facts about the Sun that would surely amuse you.

The Sun has a very powerful magnetic field

Every Star and planet have their own magnetic field, some have weaker and some have stronger. Our Sun has a very strong magnetic field. Many artificial satellites have crashed into the Sun just cause they were in its magnetic field. The Sun also happens to have storms in it, but they aren’t normal plasma storms, they are magnetic storms. When the Sun releases magnetic energy during magnetic storms it forms spots on its surface which are also known as solar flares. Solar flares are formed on Sun’s surface due to magnetic variation during the magnetic storms. The reason we are able to see them is that they are darker in contrast due to the temperature being very lower than the whole area.

The Sun has a very powerful magnetic field

Solar winds are generated on the Sun

The Sun is a very chaotic place from the incise. When extremely hot charged particles (plasma) are ejected from Sun it creates extremely powerful solar winds. These ejections originate in the corona layer of the Sun. These ejections happen in the blink of an eye as they are boosted in the Solar system at a speed of 450 km per second.

Solar winds are generated on the Sun

The Sun has almost completed 50% of its life

In various religions, it is believed that the Sun has been around since the creation of the world. But according to scientists (the people we believe in), the sun was born or formed about 4.5 billion years ago. The scientists say that the Sun has already burned almost half of its hydrogen stores in the last 4.5 billion years. The Sun has been left been enough hydrogen stores that it can burn for 5 billion more years and after that, it would turn into a supernova and destroy all life on Earth. Well, we don’t have to worry about human life if we find another suitable planet for humans.

One Day The sun and Earth would have an equal volume

Currently, the Sun is in its red giant phase. The red giant is Sun’s size classification. When the Sun will complete its red giant phase it will collapse and its mass will be retained in the space. When this would happen the Sun will have a volume left the same as the Earth. Then it will be known as the white dwarf at the place of the red giant.

The Temperature of Sun’s core can reach up to 15 million degree Celsius

The Sun generates a ton of energy every nanosecond. This energy is generated due to nuclear fusion. The process of nuclear fusion means the conversion of hydrogen and helium. When hydrogen burns it turns into helium which in the process generates a very large amount of energy. It makes us think that why don’t the Sun blasts like a nuclear bomb while converting this large amount of energy? Well, it would have if it didn’t have a very powerful gravitational pull.

The Temperature of Sun’s core can reach up to 15 million degree Celsius

The light from the sun takes 8.2 minutes to reach the Earth

The calculated distance between the Sun and the Earth is around 150million km. The average speed of light is about 3,00,000 km per second. So, when we have the information about the distance and the speed we have calculated the time which is 500 seconds and 8.2 in minutes. Considering the speed of light it very mere time to reach earth’s surface but might be surprised to know that it takes very much time and I mean millions of years to reach from Sun’s surface from its core.

The Sun is currently traveling at a speed of 220km per second

Just like Sun is the center of our solar system, our Galaxy Milky way has also a galactic center. Our Sun is 26,000 light-years far from our galactic center. And just as the Earth revolves around the Sun our Sun also revolves around the galactic center. The time taken by Sun to complete an orbit of the galactic center is about 250 million years.

The Sun has also layers just like Earth

From Earth, Sun looks just like a big ball of hydrogen and helium which is always burning. It has three internal structure layers. The surface is the visible convective zone. Where the energy from the core moves to the surface very slowly( we are talking millions of years here). Then the cooled material falls down back in the column process. After convection zone comes to the radioactive zone. In the radioactive zone energy only travels in the form of radiation. After that comes the core of the Sun where the 15million degree Celsius.

The Atmosphere of the Sun is hotter than its surface

The Sun’s surface temperature is around 5000 kelvin. Well, it’s lesser than its atmospheric temperature. The chromosphere region of the Sun reaches around 1,00,000 kelvin and this makes us think that the atmospheric temperature can’t rise above this, then you would be surprised to know that after chromosphere is an atmospheric layer known as corona where the temperature reaches up to 1 million kelvin.

The Earth would be consumed by sun one day

The sun that is the life-giving source for earth would itself become earth’s doom. There would come a time when the sun would consume and destroy the earth. At the point when the Sun has consumed all its Hydrogen, it will keep on consuming helium for 130 million additional years. During this time it will extend to the point that it will overwhelm Mercury, Venus, and the Earth. At this stage, it will have gotten a red giant.

The Earth would be consumed by sun one day

Conclusion

These are the 10 interesting facts about Our Sun, when we come to think that our very life depends upon Sun’s existence and it would kill us if something happens with the sun, it puts us into a bit dark side of our mind. But, we should not think about our own life every moment and should enjoy every moment we have. We should think of the universe as a bigger picture in its process. So while you see all the planets through your best portable telescopes don’t forget that you can see these beauties because of our sun. Every earth being including us humans are alive because of the sun.