Stars · Yellow dwarf
The Sun
8.3 light-minutes · Light crosses it in 4.6 seconds
- Across
- 1.4 million km
- Vs Earth
- 109× Earth
- Mass
- 1 Sun
About
The Sun is an ordinary yellow dwarf star, and it holds 99.86% of the mass of the Solar System. In its core, 600 million tonnes of hydrogen fuse into helium every second, and a small fraction of that mass becomes the light that keeps Earth alive.
Holds 99.86% of all the mass in the Solar System.
At a glance
| Surface | 5,772 K |
|---|---|
| Core | 15 million K |
| Age | 4.6 billion years |
| Fuel left | About 5 billion years |
Did you know
- Light from its core takes tens of thousands of years to struggle out to the surface — then 8 minutes to reach us.
- It converts about 4 million tonnes of matter into energy every second.
- When its hydrogen runs out it will swell into a red giant and swallow Mercury and Venus.
Simulations
- Earth's magnetic shield — How Earth holds off the wind from the Sun, and what a solar storm does
- The Sun's death — How the Sun will swell into a red giant, then fade into a white dwarf
- A star torn apart — How a black hole shreds a star that strays too close, and lights up a galaxy's heart
- Dyson swarm — Catching a whole star's light: how a civilization could build it, and how it would look