The Sun And Its Connection To Planet Earth

By Haywood Hunter


The sun is one of the numerous stars in the sky. It is the closest star to the earth and lies at the center of the solar system. One rotation of the sun takes 27 days. It is 4.5 billion years old, which is thought to be its mid age. This means it shall keep shining for about five billion more years to come.

Photosphere is the name given to the surface of the sun. The temperature at the core of the sun is 15.7 million K, a lot hotter than the photosphere's 5,778 K. This energy is produced via a nuclear reaction called nuclear fusion. During this process, two hydrogen nuclei bond to make one helium nucleus. This process involves release of energy.

A distance of 149.6 million kilometers separates the sun and the earth. The sun has a diameter of 1.392 million kilometers and an equatorial circumference of 4.379 million kilometers. These values are 109 times higher than the corresponding earth's measurements. Its surface area is 11,990 times that of earth, measuring 6.0877 trillion kilometer squared. Its volume is 1.3 trillion times that of earth.

Energy from the sun, known as solar energy, reaches the earth via radiation. The sun can only absorb a small fraction of solar energy; hence plenty of the radiated energy is reverberated back to space. Life on earth is dependent of the absorbed energy. More of its effects include tides, weather patterns and the earth's water cycle.

Plants make their own food through photosynthesis, a process that is dependent on solar energy. Take note that all living organisms get their food directly or indirectly from plants. In addition, the sun is the cause of energy available in fossils. Examples of such energy sources are petroleum and coal.

The sun is earth's basic source of energy. This energy reaches us in two main forms, light and heat. Solar energy is also applied in promoting plant growth in green houses, solar lighting and powering electronic devices. There cannot be life on earth without the sun.




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