The sun is just an ordinary star, but it is the largest object in our solar system. It is also about 4.5 billion years old. Find out more right here!

The Sun - What Its All About

At present, the sun is about 75 percent hydrogen and 25 percent helium - although this changes over time as the sun converts hydrogen to helium in its core. In addition to light and heat, the sun also gives off a stream of charged particles known as solar winds which travel at about 450 km/sec. That's way faster than any race car driver could ever drive. We can blame some power surges and radio interference on these winds.

The diameter of the sun is 864,950 miles making the Earth a pipsqueak at only 8,000 miles. If the Sun was hollow, you could fit about a million planet Earths inside it. The distance from the Earth to the Sun changes throughout the year, but it is usually about 93 million miles away. It takes light only 8 minutes to travel from the Sun to the Earth. But if you could hop in the car and drive to the Sun, it would take 176 years at the speed of 60 miles per hour.

The Sun - Facts

The word sun means Yellow Dwarf.

There are dark blotches on the Sun's surface called Sunspots. These are cooler areas of the Sun.

The surface of the Sun is called the photosphere.

The Sun spins around its axis once every 27.4 days.

There are sometimes "Mock Suns" which are called Sun Dogs because they follow the sun around. These Sun Dogs are usually seen as bright spots on opposite sides of the winter sun.

Related Stories:

Earth: The Blue Planet

Basics of Our Solar System

Space Term Glossary

More About Our Solar System

Read more: Go Green