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Sun

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The Sun
 

The surface of the Sun is a spectacular, turbulent place, and signs of intense solar activity, such as solar flares and sunspots, can be seen from earth.
 
sun.jpg (15444 bytes)

"Image courtesy Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
Copyright (c) California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA. All rights reserved."

[click on thumbnail for larger image]
WARNING!
Observing the Sun is dangerous.  Unless you have proper protection for your eyes, permanent blindness can result from the shortest look through binoculars or a telescope.
Sun Facts

Distance from Earth

 92,960,000 miles
149,600,000 km

Apparent Size

 32 arcminutes

Mass

 333,000 x Earth's mass

Apparent Magnitude

 -26.7

Radius

 109 x Earth's radius

Rotation

 25.4 days at equator to
35 days near poles
 

The Sun is a ball of gas about 865,000 miles in diameter.  It would take 109 Earths, lined up side by side, to span its.  The Sun contains about 333,000 times as much matter as Earth and comprises more than 99.99 percent of the mass in the entire Solar System including all planets, moons, comets, asteroids and dust.

Our star is a medium-sized, medium-hot star in the middle of its life, which began some 4.6 billion years ago.

 

 

"Animation courtesy A/Marshall Space Flight Center.

                                                                                                                   

 
Links
Astronomy in Motion - Sun Page - Lots of useful facts including a History of the Sun
Here Comes the Sun... - News of the Sun from NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center
The Sun - Astronomy Homework Research Help - An extraordinary collection of links to web sites dealing with the Sun