2023-06-10 00:17:01
Published on
The sun is the star closest to our earth. It is the center of our planetary system and is orbited by eight planets, including Earth. The sun is huge compared to our home planet. You would have to line up 109 earths to reach the diameter of the sun, which is 1,390,000 kilometers. For comparison: the earth has a diameter of 12,800 kilometers.
The sun is a seething, fiery ball of gas. It consists mainly of hydrogen and helium. Explosions are constantly happening inside the Sun. These generate such high energy that the heat turns hydrogen into helium. Two hydrogen atoms fuse with each other. This process is called nuclear fusion and the sun works like a gigantic reactor. The released energy causes the sun to shine and the heat that is generated is unimaginable for us. Temperatures of 15 million degrees Celsius develop in the inner core of the sun. On its surface, the so-called photosphere, there is still a temperature of 5,500 degrees Celsius. In comparison, boiling water, which is already so hot that it burns us, has a temperature of just 100 degrees Celsius.
Sometimes there are violent explosions at the sun’s surface, shooting energy into space at speeds of up to 3,000 kilometers per hour. When these “solar storms” move towards the earth, they can damage satellites or disrupt the power grids of entire countries. But you can also provide a spectacular natural spectacle in the sky at the polar circles: the beautiful, colorful northern lights, known in technical jargon as the Auror Borealis.
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