The mission of our sun

By C

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Puti

The colours of our sun

Did you know that the sun is made up of seven colours but how we see it, it looks white and yellow. The colours the sun is made up of are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet. These colours in the light mix up together which make the sun look white.

What is the sun’s proper name?

Our Sun is not unique in the universe. It is a common middle-sized yellow star which scientists have named Sol, after the ancient Roman name. This is why our system of planets is called the Solar System. There are trillions of other stars in the universe just like it. Many of these stars have their own systems of planets, moons, asteroids, and comets.

How was the sun born?

The Sun was born in a vast cloud of gas and dust around 5 billion years ago. These vast nebulae are the birth places of all stars. Over a time of many millions of years, the gas and dust began to fall into a centre under the force of its own gravity.

The sun spotsWe don't often think of the Sun as having cooler areas on its surface. The Sun is too hot for an astronaut to go on the sun, but there are areas which are a bit cooler than others. These areas are called sun spots. Sun spots are still very hot. However, because they are a bit cooler than the rest of the surface of the Sun, they come out slightly darker in colour. The gravity forces in Sun spots are stronger than the other hotter place. Obviously you cannot look directly at the Sun to see these spots because you would damage your eyes. Astronomers have to use special telescopes with filters and other instruments to be able to see the cooler spots on the surface of the Sun.

Sun spots come and go on a regular time. At times there are few, if any sun spots. At other times there are more than before. They sometimes grow in intensity and then shrink over a time of 11 years. This 11 year cycle is known as the Saros Cycle.