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By SolarGem
More Facts, Solar Power
atmostphere, earth, our planet, our solar system, our sun, planet, solar, solar facts, solar system, solargem, space
SolarGem loves educating its clients as well as its prospective clients. In educating our clients we not only go to great lengths to ensure they understand how solar panels work but we also place an emphasis on the very thing that gave birth to solar panels, the sun. That big bright star in the sky is part of what enables life to exist on the Earth and it produces more energy in a few seconds than any human could utilize in their entire lifetime. Here’s a few more solar facts that are simple yet fun and useful.
THE SUN IS A STAR
Some people look up at the sun and don’t think of it as a star. The sun is a star and is but one of billions in our Milky Way galaxy. While all stars are comprised of similar elements stars come in a wide variety of sizes, weights, colors, and temperatures.
THE COLOR OF THE SUN
Our sun may look yellow, orange, or red when viewed from Earth. In reality however the sun is a “yellow” dwarf which emits mostly white light. It is the Earth’s atmosphere that gives our eyes the illusion of a differently colored sun.
SUN’S IN THE NIGHT SKY
When we see other stars in the night sky they appear white, small, and twinkle only because of our distance from them and the blurring effect of Earth’s atmosphere. In reality the vast majority of stars we see at night time are stars much larger than our own and are often red, blue, or yellow. The vast majority of stars however cannot be seen without the aid of a telescope as they are much smaller and cooler than our sun. The stars are known as red dwarfs.
OUR MASSIVE SUN
The solar system is comprised of eight planets, several dwarf planets, and a multitude of comets and asteroids. Although there are likely trillions of objects orbiting our sun all of these objects, the planets included, still only make up 1% of the entire solar system. The sun comprises the other 99%.
OUR SUN HAS A NAME
Unbeknownst to many individuals the sun actually has a name. The name “Sol” is derived from Latin and is used in many different countries and sometimes by scientists who’ve grown tired of referring to it as “the sun”.
BIG, REALLY BIG
Although our sun is a considered a dwarf star it is still unimaginably large. So large is the sun in fact that if you could fit 1 million earths inside of it you’d still have room left over for more. For a greater perspective try to remember that the sun is nearly 865,000 miles wide.
GAS NOT FIRE
Though the sun looks to be a large ball of fire from our vantage point here on earth, our host star actually contains no fire whatsoever. In reality the sun is comprised of hot burning gas. So why is this gas so hot? The suns heat is generated by atoms that are fused together into heavier elements. It is the release of energy during this atomic fusion that gives the sun its heat in the earth it’s light.
(Photo credit goes to esa.int)
