The Sun
Our very own star
The Sun is a star, a gigantic glowing ball of hot gas. It is the centre of our solar system, and every planet travels around it. Its gravity is what keeps them all in their paths.
Deep inside, the Sun squashes tiny hydrogen atoms together to make helium. This is called nuclear fusion, and it gives off huge amounts of light and heat. That energy travels across space and reaches Earth in about 8 minutes. It warms our planet, makes plants grow and gives us daylight.
The Sun is about 4.6 billion years old and is roughly halfway through its life. It has enough fuel to keep shining for another 5 billion years or so. It looks yellow, and scientists call it a yellow dwarf, but it is really white. Our air makes it look yellow.
- Distance from Earth
- 150 million km
- Size
- 1.39 million km wide (about 109 Earths side by side)
- Surface heat
- About 5,500 °C
- Core heat
- About 15 million °C
- Share of solar system weight
- About 99.8%
Safety tip: never look straight at the Sun. It can damage your eyes, even through sunglasses.
The planets below are listed in order, from the one closest to the Sun to the one furthest away. Scroll down and watch each world spin! The planets are not shown to scale.