Saturday, December 03, 2011

Solar System: The Sun

Here's the first solar body for the mobile project for my son. I figured for my own education I'd spend a little time learning about each one as I went along, so rather than the normal painting type of post, these will be mini-educational posts! I'm sure most of you have already closed the window now, but for those of you still interested, here are fun facts I learned about the Sun!
  • The sun accounts for 99.8% of the mass in our solar system.
  • It's approximately 4.5 billion years old, which is about middle aged for its expected lifespan.
  • It's composed of about 70% hydrogren, 28% helium, and the rest is assorted metals. If you do the math, there's more than 10 times more metal in the Sun than in the entire rest of our solar system.
  • The Sun's light comes from the fusion reactions taking place, where hydrogen is turned into helium.
  • The Sun's output isn't constant. During a period of time in the 17th century, the Sun was less "active" and it caused a mini ice age on Earth.
References:
The Nine Planets

No comments: