Here are some things you may not know about the sun.
The sun, that giant ball of fire in the sky at the heart of our solar system has always fascinated us. Even with all we know, there is still much to uncover about the sun. Here are a few things scientists have discovered about the sun and a few things that they have yet to uncover.
The sun is a really big nuclear fusion reactor
Trying to imagine the size of the sun is a hard one as it is almost incomprehensibly big. Approximately 1.3 million Earths could make up the sun. Research indicates the sun is about 4.5 billion years old and could last for at least another 6.5 billion years. 74 per cent of hydrogen and 25 per cent of helium makes up the sun, along with a few other elements. Every second, nuclear reactions at its core fuse hundreds of millions of tons of hydrogen into hundreds of millions of tons of helium. This works to release the heat and light that we on Earth enjoy.
The sun has an atmosphere
Not only does the sun have an atmosphere, but our planet Earth is inside it. What many people may not know is that the sun is a semi-chaotic system. Every 100 years, give or take, the sun seems to go into a kind of slumber. This caused its activity to be reduced for two or three decades. However, it becomes much more active and violent when it does wake up. Why this process occurs is still a mystery.
Iron fund in human blood comes from the sun’s siblings
The sun does not have a solid core. Heavy elements, like iron and uranium, are created at the cores of stars. When stars explode, their debris is released into space and they form planets. It is also where we humans get iron in our blood and the carbon in our cells. It was made in a star that exploded.
A solar probe is making humanity’s first visit to a star
NASA launched the Applied Physics Laboratory's Parker Solar Probe in 2018 to make observations of the outer corona of the Sun. The probe is measuring the sun's wind across various locations while it orbits the sun. With this information, researchers could create new models of the solar wind, which could help better predict solar storms and more.
