The sun is the center star of our solar system. Its diameter is about 1.39 million kilometers. The sun is so big that the Earth would It would fit inside the sun about 109 times.
Its mass is about 330,000 times that of the Earth. The sun is the most important source of energy for all the life that exists on Terra. Its energy helps plants and forests grow. Its energy is the key to the cycle of life. Along with history, there were a lot of theories about the sun. The most famous one is the one that says that the sun revolves around the Earth, and not otherwise. There is an entire history of the sun, being the most interesting star in our galaxy.
All thru history, There were a lot of theories about the sun. The most famous one is the one that says that the sun revolves around the Earth, and not otherwise. There is an entire history of the sun, being the most interesting star in our galaxy.
A Few Details About the Sun
The sun is a young star, being part of the Population I of stars. The stars from Population I are stars that have more elements heavier than helium. About 73% of the Sun’s mass consists of hydrogen. About 25% of its mass is helium and the rest of 2% is composed of oxygen, neon, iron, and carbon.
Many may wonder how hot the sun is. Well, the part of the Sun which is visible has about 5.500 Celsius degrees (10.000 Fahrenheit degrees). According to NASA, to reproduce the level of energy the sun is producing, you would need to explode 100 billion tons of dynamite every second.
The Sun completes a revolution around the galactic core in about 250 million years.
Formation of the Sun
Scientists have tried to estimate the age of the Sun with the help of nucleocosmochronology. They have also used some models of the evolution of the stars. They have estimated that the sun is 4.567 billion years old.
Over time, scientists have analyzed ancient meteorites and developed the theory of how the Sun was formed. It appears that near a cloud full of dust and gas was a supernova.
A supernova is an event that appears only when a certain type of star dies. It is an energetic event that affects everything around, and so it brought a contribution to how the sun was born. The shock wave supernova triggers might have affected the giant rotating cloud.
It caused its matter to compress and some regions to collapse. Most of the material concentrated in the center and the rest contributed to the formation of other planets and solar system bodies.
Theories about the Sun. The sun was the symbol of many ancient deities. There were no mechanisms and knowledge to further investigate how the sun has appeared. So, it was worshipped as the god Ra in Egypt, Tonatiuh, the Aztec god, and many others. Over time it had many different forms, depending on the region and the religion.
The first theories of the sun have been formulated around 150 B.C. The geocentric model was firstly proposed by the Greek scholar Ptolemy and it posited that the sun revolves around the Earth.
What is interesting about the history of the sun is that around the 3rd century B.C., the Greek astronomer and mathematician Aristarchus of Samos proposed the heliocentric theory. The theory was later developed by Nicolaus Copernicus in the 16th century which also made a mathematical model. This theory is completely opposite to the geocentric ones. Because it suggests that the planets revolve around the Sun and not otherwise.
Observations of the Sun
Being such a strange and intriguing part of everyday lives, people always strived to find out more about the mysteries of the Sun. After the technology has developed enough, NASA began its research about the Sun. NASA wanted to study the Sun from the Earth orbit.
And so, they have launched eight orbiting observatories between 1962 and 1971. Among the most important achievements of this mission is that seven of the eight observatories were successful. Among other things, NASA engineers managed to photograph the hot corona of the Sun and analyzed the ultraviolet light.
As technology has developed and improved, NASA engineers managed to go further in their investigations on the Sun. In 2004 a NASA spacecraft returned with samples of the solar wind to Earth. In 2007, NASA managed to do a three-dimensional photo of the Sun.
Further Investigations
Because of its so high temperature, people have not yet found the perfect design for a rocket to not melt near the Sun. But, further investigations are done. The plans show that by 2021 the solar orbiter which was launched in 2018 will be fully functional.
Even though it will be still far from the Sun (about 43 million kilometers away), the solar orbiter will be able to have a closer look at the sun. The goal is to better understand the solar surface. Its mission will be to look at plasma and other particles from the solar environment. It is important to do this before they suffer modifications and are being transported to the solar system.
What’s Next?
There are a lot of things to be discovered about the Sun and not only. An entire solar system, an entire universe is out there waiting to be discovered. Until the technology is developed enough, we must observe what we can. The Sun is the star in the center of our solar system.
All the planets revolve around it. Its energy is essential to all forms of life on Earth. Most of its characteristics are still a mystery to humankind, but with the help of technology, we will be able to discover them all.
Diana Clark is a passionate writer and blogger covering different news and topics on Internet technology, SEO, Blogging practice, and everything that might be interesting for her lovely WEB-Crazed Audience. She also provides writing help at superiorpapers.com.