The Sun is the largest star in our solar system and it is what allows our planet to survive. During the warm summer months, it allows us to enjoy the heat, although it can be useful to have Brise Soleil like the ones from Aluminium Systems fitted to the outside of office buildings to help prevent the indoor space from overheating. There are lots of interesting facts about the sun and here are just a few of them.
- The sun is made up of helium and hydrogen.74% is hydrogen and 24% is helium. This leaves 2% that is made up of small amounts of oxygen, nickel and iron.
- It is made up of a number of layers. The layer that we can see is called the photosphere and just below this is the convective layer. The third layer is the radiative layer and then underneath this is the core of the sun.
- The sun is so large that over a million Earths could fit inside it. Although it is incredibly large there are other stars on the outer edges of the universe that are bigger.
- At the core of the sun, nuclear fusion takes place. This is where four hydrogen nuclei combine together to make one helium nucleus.
- The sun is currently in its red giant stage. After this, it will collapse into a white dwarf that will end up around the size of the Earth.
