The Sun

By: Jing W. and Robb H.

Without the sun….

The sun is a very important star. It gives off light, heat, and energy. Without it, life on earth would not exist.

We would be dead without the Sun.

Distances

Although you see the sun in front of you everyday, it’s not. It is actually 92 million miles away.

The reason you can see it is because it’s diameter is 1.3 million kilometers long. 333 Earths could fit in the sun.

Layers of the sun

There are 6 layers in the sun, from the inside to the out. There is the core, the radiation zone, the convection zone, the photosphere (the surface of the sun), and the chromosphere and the corona (2 layers of gas).

Sunspots

Sunspots are dark spots that take place on the photosphere. They are spots that occur on the sun every 11 years. Sunspots have 2 parts. They are the umbra and the penumbra. The umbra is on the inside and is very dark, but the penumbra is on the outside and is not as dark. Sunspots can grow up to over 50 thousand kilometers wide.

Rotation

By studying the sunspots scientists have learned that the sun rotates, because of the movement of the sunspots.

Did you know?

• Did you know there are solar winds? They can send out ions from gas that go over 500 kilometers per hour.

• Did you know the core of the sun is 15 million degrees Celsius?

• Did you know that the sun is actually a medium sized star?

Questions

What does the sun provide us with? How far is the sun from the earth? How many layers are there in the sun? What are sunspots? How hot is the core of the sun?

Answers

Light, heat, and energy92 million miles away6 layersSunspots are dark spots on the sun that are

cooler than the rest of the areaThe core is about 15 million degrees

Celsius