Learn More Fun Facts About Our Sun

The sun is a star, a hot ball of glowing gases at the heart of our solar system. Its influence extends far beyond the orbits of distant Neptune and Pluto. Without the sun’s intense energy and heat, there would be no life on Earth. And though it is special to us, there are billions of stars like our sun scattered across the Milky Way galaxy.

Impress your friends with these fun facts about our Sun:

• If the sun were as tall as a typical front door, the Earth would be the size of a U.S. nickel
• The temperature at the sun’s core is about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit
• Our sun is more massive than the average star in its neighborhood. Nearly 90% of stars are less massive, making them cooler and dimmer
• The sun contains 99.9% of all matter in our solar system
• During a single second, the sun converts 4 million tons of matter to pure energy
• It would take about 1 million Earths to fill the sun if it were a hollow ball
• The sun rotates on its axis approximately once every 27 days
• The sun is 93 million miles away from Earth and is almost 5 billion years old