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Facts About the Sun for Kids

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Last updated date: 22nd Mar 2024
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Sun - Our Biggest Star

The sun is the closest star to earth. It's the source of all the heat and light that we get on earth. Life wouldn't exist without it. It's also the centre of our solar system and by far its largest object. The sun was born about 4.6 billion ago. It is the source of energy of our planet earth. The Sun is composed of hydrogen and helium gases. It is believed that the sun will become a white dwarf after 5 billion years and burn up all the hydrogen.                        


What is Sun?

Sun is the yellow dwarf star which consists of 98% of the total mass of the entire solar system. The Sun is the source of light and energy to our planet earth. The sun is placed in the centre of our solar system and is a dwarf star that gives light. Sun also releases a stream of particles that reaches the earth as the solar wind.


The sun controls our seasons. It controls how and when food grows. It even controls when we are asleep and awake. It take-up 98% of the matter in the solar system because of its size and it has a strong gravitational pull. It keeps earth, the star, the moons and the other planets in line. Without gravity, the sun, and the earth would go spinning off into space.


The Sun

 

The Sun


Inside The Sun


Structure of the Sun


Structure of the Sun


The sun is at the centre of the solar system. It nearly perfects a sphere of hot plasma; it is divided into 2 parts: the outer layer and the inner layer.


Outer Layer

1) Photosphere - The photosphere is the sun that we can see from earth. Though it is called the surface of the sun, it is the first layer of the surface of the sun, it is the first layer of the solar atmosphere and is made of plasma.

2) Chromosphere - Chromosphere is a reddish and glowing layer of gas above a star's photosphere; it is a transition between corona and photosphere.

3) Transition Region - The transition region is a very narrow layer between the chromosphere and the corona where the temperature rises abruptly from about 8000 to abruptly 5,00,000.

4) Corona - The outermost layer of the sun's atmosphere where strong magnetic fields bind plasma and prevent turbulent solar winds from escaping. The Alfven point is when solar winds exceed the critical speed and can break free of the corona and the sun's magnetic field.


Inner Layer

1) Core: The core is at the centre. It is the hottest region where the nuclear fusion reaction that powers the sun occurs.

2) Radiative Zone: The inner layer is the Core Radiative Zone. The outer layer is the photosphere chromosphere, the transition region and the corona.

3) Convection Zone: This is the outermost layer of the solar interior. It extends from a depth of about 200,000 km right up to the visible surface.


Fun Facts About the Sun for Kids

The Sun is heating up and can kill life on earth. It becomes 10% more luminous every billion years. In fact, within just a billion years the heat from the sun will be so intense that liquid water won’t exist on the surface.


Solar System


Solar System


Astronomers think that the sun formed from the solar nebula about 4.59 billion years ago.

The sun is in the main sequence stage right now, slowly using up hydrogen fuel.

After sunset. The earth, Moon, does not make its light. It shines because of the light it reflects from the sun.

This is an ordinary star.  It’s just one of the billions of stars in the Milky way alone.

 

Summary

The sun is the star in the solar system which is at the centre. It is a nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma with an internal convection motion that generates a magnetic field via a dynamo process. It is by far the most important source of energy for life on earth.


There are three main parts to the Sun interior: The core, The radiative zone, and the constructive zone. The core is at the centre. It is the hottest region, where the nuclear fusion reactions that power the Sun occur. Moving outward next comes the radiative zone.

FAQs on Facts About the Sun for Kids

1. How hot is the sun?

The sun is extremely hot. The outer surface of the sun is about 10,000-degree Fahrenheit, about 50 times the temperature required to boil water. It is intense that nuclear reactions take place.

2. What would happen to Earth if the sun didn’t exist?

The sun provides light heat energy. With the help of which vegetation grows without such things, everything will fall apart. Without the sun's warmth earth would quickly become a much colder place. Fortunately, the earth retains heat fairly well, so humans wouldn’t freeze instantly.


Although no one can know for sure exactly what would happen, scientists estimate that the average global surface temperatures would drop below 0 degrees F within a week or so. You have probably withstood such temperatures during cold winters before. 

3. What are some interesting facts about the sun?

The sun firstly accounts for 99.86% of the mass in the solar system. Over one million Earths could fit inside the sun. One day the sun will consume the earth. The energy created by the sun's core is nuclear fusion. The sun is almost a perfect sphere.