25 Most Fascinating Facts About the Sun

For the second summer in a row here in Arizona, we’ve seen record highs – and we’re only just beginning summer. Since it’s on all our minds anyway, we decided to compile a list of the 25 most fascinating facts about our favorite star: The Sun!

1. Of all the mass in our entire Solar System, the sun equates for 99.8% of it. This means that Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, and all the other planets, moons and stars combined shares only .20% of the Solar System’s mass.
2. The Sun has a diameter of 1.4 million kilometers (870,000 miles). At 60 miles per hour, it would take you 14,500 hours or 604 straight days to drive this distance.
3. With just a 10-kilometer difference between its polar and equatorial diameters, the sun is the most spherical object observed in nature.
4. The sun is about 4.5 billion years old, and is estimated to be about half-way through its life.
5. At its core, the sun reaches 15,000,000 degrees Celsius (27,000,000 degrees Fahrenheit!).
6. Our sun is classified as a Yellow Dwarf star and is only one of trillions of stars across the universe. It is not even the largest type of star.
7. The term “Solar System” comes from the Ancient Roman’s sun god, Sol. Solar System literally means, “system of the sun”.

8. The sun is responsible for the Earth’s weather and climate.
9. The surface temperature of the sun is 5,500 degrees Celsius.
10. The sun appears white to our eyes; however, it is actually a combination of all the colors. It is this illusion that causes the sun to appear white.
11. The sun is 109 times wider than Earth and 330,000 times as massive.
12. Eventually, the sun will burn all of it’s hydrogen and will begin burning helium instead. At this time, the sun will expand to consume Earth, Mercury and Venus. At this point, it will be classified as a Red Dwarf.
13. After this Red Dwarf phase, the sun will collapse and become only about the size of Earth. When this happens the sun will be classified as a White Dwarf.
14. The sun travels at 220 kilometers per second. This is 792,000 kilometers per hour.
15. The sun generates solar wind through magnetic energy.
16. About 1 million Earths could fit inside the sun. If you filled an empty sun with spherical Earths, about 960,000 would fit. If you flattened those Earths out, then you would need about 1,300,000 Earths to fill it.
17. For a fun visualization of just how massive the sun is, visit http://space-facts.com/how-big-is-the-sun-million-earths/.

18. A solar eclipse happens when the moon’s orbit coincides with the sun’s. From Earth’s perspective, the moon is directly in front of the sun, creating an eclipse illusion.
19. There are about 2-5 solar eclipses each year.
20. A total solar eclipse only happens about once every 1-2 years, lasting about 7.5 minutes
21. After exactly 18 years and 11 months, completely identical solar eclipses occur.
22. The next total solar eclipse will be seen from North America and will occur on August 21st, 2017 at exactly 18:26:40, lasting 2 minutes and 40 seconds.
23. This will be the last chance to see an eclipse in 2017. The next partial eclipse will not occur until February of 2018.
24. To find out when all solar eclipses will occur up to 2020, visit: http://mreclipse.com/Special/SEnext.html
25. When viewing an eclipse through a telescope, make sure it has the appropriate filter. Viewing the sun through a telescope without this filter can cause extreme damage to eyes including permanent blindness.

(Facts 1-8 found on https://theplanets.org/the-sun/, facts 9-17 found at http://space-facts.com/the-sun/, facts 18-25 found at http://space-facts.com/solar-eclipse/).

If you didn’t already know this from living in Arizona or reading these facts – the sun is extremely powerful. At CC Sunscreens, we are proud to be industry leaders in the installation of home window solar screens, patio shades and anti-golf ball screens to help you protect your home, family and wallet from the sun’s harmful UV rays. Reach out to us to schedule your free, no obligation, in home consultation and quote with one of our friendly professionals to see how CC Sunscreens can help you today.