The Earth comepaerd to the Sun. BIG DIFFERENCE! Image courtesy http://nasa.gov

The sun is a medium sized star at the center of our solar system.  All of the planets orbit the sun. The surface of the sun is 6,000 degrees.  The corona, the hottest part of the sun’s atmosphere, is one million degrees.  Even though we are 93 million miles away from the sun, we can still feel its heat.  In fact, the energy from the sun is the main source of energy on Earth.

The sun is very important to life on Earth. Plants use sunlight as food through the process of photosynthesis.  Many different kinds of animals eat plants for energy.  Even meat eating animals depend on plants because without plants, the animals they eat would starve.  We can also use the sun’s energy to do work.  We use solar cells to make electricity.

The sun also emits ultra-violet rays which cause sunburn.  Still, you have to keep going out in the sunlight because these ultra-violet rays also make Vitamin D in your skin.  Vitamin D is important because it helps your body absorb calcium.  Ultra-violet rays also can kill bacteria and is used to clean tools and water.  When my baby brother was born, he had infant jaundice.  This is caused by extra red blood cells in an infant’s body.  The liver is supposed to break them down, but sometimes the immature liver isn’t fast enough.  Billiruben begins to build up in their skin, causing their skin to turn yellow.  If it is bad enough, it can cause brain damage or even death.  Ultra-violet rays, however, break up the billiruben.  My brother did not have to do this, but if levels get high enough, the doctor will put the baby under special ultra-violet lights to help get rid of the billiruben.

This is my favorite picture of a solar prominence. Image courtesy http://nasa.gov

You should never look directly at the sun because it can damage your eyes.  But using special equipment and special telescopes, we can see many features of the sun from earth.  We can see dark spots like freckles.  These are called sunspots and are cooler than the rest of the surface of the sun.  These spots are magnetic storms on the surface of the sun.  When there is a lot of sunspot activity, it can even affect our satellites.  We can also see huge eruptions on the surface of the sun called solar flares.  These release a tremendous amount of energy into space.  We can also see solar prominences which are like huge arcs of very hot gases.

For a fun activity to help you remember the features on the sun’s surface, try making solar cookies.You can learn more about the sun and its layers by making a paper sun model.