15 Interesting Facts About The Sun

God created the sun in the beginning, as shown in Genesis 1. It is recorded thus: ‘Then God said, “Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years; and let them be for lights in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so.

Then God made two great lights: the greater light (sun) to rule the day and the lesser light (moon) to rule the night…”’ (Genesis 1:14-16).

The greater light mentioned in Genesis 1:16 is the sun, and its purpose is to rule the day and regulate signs, seasons, days, and years.

Below are more interesting facts about the sun:
1. So, how big is the sun? Well, that warm, bright beam of light in the sky is a whopping 865,370 miles in diameter. The sun is so big that more than a million Earths could fit inside it!

2. The sun’s surface, the photosphere, is blistering at 9,932 degrees Fahrenheit. That makes a hot summer sound not so bad!

3. Did you know that the sun is not a planet? It is actually a star and the only one in our solar system. The sun is mainly made up of hydrogen and helium, making it a steamy ball of plasma instead of a solid mass.

4. Without the heat and light from the sun, human beings would not be able to live on Earth.

5. Although the sun looks like a giant orb from Earth, it is still around 94.5 million miles away! That is 400 times farther than the distance between the moon and the Earth.

6. We know that it helps warm our days, but just how hot is the sun? The sun’s core is around 27 million degrees Fahrenheit, meaning no life force could ever survive on the sun!

7. The sun’s gravity is so fierce that it holds the entire solar system together, and everything revolves around it—the planets, comets, asteroids, and pieces of space debris.

8. The sun emits a constant stream of particles called the solar wind. When the solar wind collides with atoms of oxygen and nitrogen from the Earth’s atmosphere, it can cause beautiful flashes of colourful light in the night sky, known as auroras.

9. The sun is made up of outer and inner layers that spin at varying rates, but on average, it rotates on its axis every 27 days.

10. The sun is so far from Earth that sunlight takes about 8 minutes to reach us! This is known as the speed of light.

11. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, blocking the sun’s light.

12. Ever noticed grey, reflective rectangles on some roofs? These are called solar panels! Solar panels harness energy from the sun to generate electricity for homes.

13. The sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays are a source of vitamin D, which is crucial for humans. Vitamin D helps keep bones healthy and prevent diseases that make bones weak, such as rickets!

14. You should never look directly at the sun! The sun emits ultraviolet (UV) rays that can cause a sunburn on the corneas of your eyes.

15. As Earth orbits the sun, it rotates along an oval-shaped path rather than a perfect circle. That means the distance between the Earth and the sun changes throughout the year.