A Ball of Fire: Some interesting facts about the Sun

The Sun is the reason for our existence, the centre of our solar system. Let’s see some of the interesting and lesser-known facts about the Sun.

The Sun is the reason why Earth is habitable. It’s is the light of Sun which makes every plant, beast and human thriving. Perhaps that is the reason why the Sun is worshipped in many ancient cultures. So, let’s see some unique and interesting facts about the Sun, which would surprise you.

  1. The weight of the Sun is equal to the weight of the 330,060 Earths.
  2. The Sun is at the perfect distance from the Earth, if it were any closer or far, it would have been inhabitable.
  3. Our Sun is 4.6 billion years old. Technically, it is a middle-aged star. It is believed to live for another five billion years.
  4. It is due to gravity that the planets are round in shape. Sun, due to such strong gravity is a perfect circle, more perfect than any other sphere in nature.
  5. It takes approximately eight minutes for light from the Sun to reach the Earth’s surface.
  6. If you were to travel to the Sun in a standard airline, it would take you about 20 years to reach there and that too without stopping.
  7. The Sun gives rise to solar winds, which are essentially streams of the charged protons and electrons that travel through the solar system.
  8. It is these solar winds that are responsible for the most spectacular sights such as the Northern lights, the Aurora Borealis.
  9. The magnetic fields which are created by the Sun can disrupt communications on the Earth.
  10. We often paint the Sun as a bright yellow disk. The Japanese children, however, are taught to colour the Sun red as it is reflected on their national flag. But in reality, the Sun is neither yellow nor red; it is white in colour.
  11. The rotation of the Earth around the Sun is the basis of our solar calendar, which is the most widely used calendar.
  12. The study of the interior of the Sun is known as Helioseismology. It is done with the help of different satellites.
The Sun is doomed to die one day when all the hydrogen in its core burns away. The Sun would become a big red giant and swallow Mercury, Venus and even our Earth. So, let’s not take our sunlight for granted and bask in it for a while.