By Elisha

» The Sun » The sun is the star in the centre of the solar system in which the earth orbits around and is about 149,600,000 km away from earth. It is by far the largest object in this solar system, the sun contains 99.8% of the total mass in the solar system. The suns power is produced by nuclear fusion reactions. It is made up of 70% hydrogen, 28% helium, also carbon, nitrogen and oxygen makes up 1.5% and the other 0.5% is made up of many other elements such as neon, iron, silicon, magnesium and sulphur.

» Sun Spots » Sun spots are regions on the solar surface that appear dark because they are cooler than their surroundings. Sun spots are formed when a magnetic field pushes its way through the surface of the sun. They develop and persist for periods ranging from hours to months, and are carried around the surface of the sun by its rotation. » A sun spot removed from the bright background of the sun would glow quite brightly.

» Solar Flares » a solar flare is a fast and noticeable variation in brightness like an explosion. they occur when magnetic energy that has built up in the solar atmosphere is released. The amount of energy that is released is equivalent to millions of 100/megaton hydrogen bombs released from the sun in a very short amount of time. Solar flares emit radiation across virtually the entire electromagnetic spectrum.

» Cornea » The outer atmosphere of the sun is called the cornea. The glow is much brighter than that of the photosphere, so it can only be seen when the disk of the sun is blocked off by a solar eclipse. A solar eclipse is when the moon shadows the suns light as viewed from earth. » Coronal Holes and Solar Wind » Coronal holes appear when the Magnetic field lines of the sun are open, letting coronal gas to flow out and create solar wind. Solar wind is the continuous flow of charged particles from the sun which goes through the solar system. The charged particles are atoms which are made of electrons, protons and neutrons.

» Core » The core is the centre of the sun. it is made of hot, dense gas called plasma which is why it’s the hottest part of the sun and solar system. The core is extended from the centre to about 0.2 solar radius, the core produces almost all of the suns heat via fusion. Fusion is exploding gases, the rest of the star is heated by the outward transfer of the heat. The fusion has to travel through many layers of the sun to reach the surface and create sunlight.

» Facts » If the sun was hollow nearly one million earths could fit inside it. » Light from the sun takes 8 minutes to reach the earth » The sun is around 4.5 billion years old » The sun has burnt off about half of its store of hydrogen, it has enough left to burn for approximately 5 billion years more. » The sun has a very strong magnetic field. » The temperature inside the sun can reach about 15 million degrees Celsius. » The sun emits solar wind which travels through the solar system at 450 kilometres per second.