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Here comes the sun: Rising early, staying late
The star that sustains life on Earth
Date published: 6/7/2007
WHAT GIVES US The answer is the sun, (When you're celebrating, don't make the mistake of looking directly at the sun--it can permanently damage your vision.) Did you know that the sun is the closest star to the Earth? Yes, the sun is a star like many others we see in the night sky, but it is also unique in its own right. Its distinction lies in the fact that it shepherds several planets; one of those, our planet Earth, harbors life. As far as we know, intelligent life on our planet is an exclusive circumstance in the universe. Our ancestors built structures to worship, honor, and study the sun, and we measure a year based upon the Earth's orbit around it. The sun is so large compared to our little planet that over a million Earths could fit inside of it. However, it is just an average-sized star compared to others in our galaxy. It is the brightest object in the sky because the Earth is so "close" to it. Its average distance from the Earth at 93,000,000 miles, called an astronomical unit, is a safe enough gap for life to flourish on our planet. If you could drive to the sun at a constant highway speed of 60 mph, it would take you about 177 years to get there, and that does not include any bathroom breaks! If you don't feel like driving, an airplane flight would take about 25 years. The light we receive from the sun has traveled to the Earth at 186,000 miles per second, which is much faster than our imaginary trips in a car or airplane. Sunlight takes a little over eight minutes to reach the Earth. This means that if the sun were to stop shining as you read this, it would take a little more than eight minutes for us to notice the change. Astronomers have estimated the sun to be about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit at its surface and about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit at its core. That is some serious heat!
Date published: 6/7/2007
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