Our Space - Part 13 The Sun - Information for small kids

Today we come to the end of our series on 'Space' and lastly we look at the most important object in space, besides from Earth we live on, and that is the Sun.

The Sun is where all our energy comes from.  It gives us light and warmth and life.  The plants need it to photosynthesize.

Without the Sun, Earth will be frozen and all life will end.

The Sun is a star and is found in the centre of our Universe.  All the planets and moons, Earth included rotates around the Sun.

The Sun is the closest star to Earth and it is 1 392 000 km wide.  You will be able to fit more than 900 000 Earths inside of the Sun.

The sun is made up mostly of helium and hydrogen and a few other gases that constantly burns.

The Sun is more than 149 million kilometers away from Earth and it takes the light from the Sun 8 minutes to reach Earth.

We are exactly at the right distance from the Sun that our planet is not too hot or too cold.  The planets closer to the Sun is very hot and this is because the temperature of the Sun is around 5500 degrees Celsius.  We will not be able to get even a bit closer to the Sun - you will be turned into a crisp...

Even though we are so far away from the Sun, enough rays comes to Earth to heat it up and it can also damage your skin if you stay in the Sun too long.  It is always a good idea to put on sunscreen.

The Sun produces a solar wind which contains charged particles such as electrons and protons. They escape the Sun’s intense gravity because of their high kinetic energy and the high temperature of the Sun’s corona (a type of plasma atmosphere that extends into space). 

Every now and then it happens the Moon is between the Earth and the Sun and this is called a solar eclipse.  We know this now because scientist has figured it out, but long ago people did not know how it worked and they believed weird things.

For more interesting facts on the Sun read here.

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