Facts AboutTheSun
Sun Facts for Kids!
1.One million Earths could fitinside the Sun
~If ahollow Sun was filled up withspherical Earths then around960,000 would fitinside.
2.Eventually, the Sun willconsumethe Earth
~Whenall theHydrogen has been burned,the Sunwill continue for about130million more years, burningHelium.
~After itsredgiantphase, the Sun willcollapse,retaining its enormousmass, butcontaining theapproximate volumeof our planet.When this happens,it will becalled a whitedwarf.
4.The Sun contains 99.86% of themass in the SolarSystem:
~The mass of theSun is approximately 330,000 timesgreater than that of Earth. It isalmost three quarters Hydrogen,whilst most of the remaining massisHelium.
5. The Sun is an almostperfectsphere:
~Thereis only a10 kilometre differencein itspolar diameter compared toitsequatorialdiameter.
6. Light from the Sun takeseightminutes to reachEarth:
~With a meanaverage distance of 150 millionkilometres from Earth and withlight travelling at 300,000kilometres per second, dividingone by the other gives us anapproximate time of eight minutes.
~The Sun is24,000-26,000 light years from thegalactic centre and it takes theSun 225-250 million years tocomplete an orbit of the centre ofthe MilkyWay.
8.The distance from the Sun to Earthchanges throughout theyear:
~Because the Earthtravels on an elliptical orbitaround the Sun, the distancebetween the two bodies varies from147 to 152 millionkilometres.
~Ataround4.5 billion years old, theSun hasalready burned off abouthalf ofits store ofHydrogen.
10. The temperatureinsidethe Sun can reach 15milliondegreesCelsius
~At theSun’score, energy is generated bynuclear fusion, as Hydrogenconverts to Helium. Because hotobjects generally expand, the Sunwould explode like a giant bomb ifit weren’t for its enormousgravitationalforce.