Sun and Stars
We can see things during the day because of the big, bright, shiny sun that glows in the sky and illuminates the earth. But did you know that the sun is actually just a star, similar to all of the other stars that light up our night sky.
The sun is in fact the only star in our solar system. All of the other stars in the sky are located in other solar systems. Those other solar systems might also have planets in them that orbit around stars, just like our solar system, which has nine planets that orbit the sun. We do not know for sure. There could be people just like you and me on a far away planet that is orbiting around one of those far away stars. Or, there could be life on another planet that is different from what we know on earth. Imagine all the possibilities!
The sun and all of the stars generate heat and light by turning hydrogen into helium (these are both gases) through a process called nuclear fusion. This process continually repeats which makes the center of the sun very hot! In fact, the center of the sun is 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. However, there is not a limitless supply of hydrogen in the center of the sun. Eventually, the sun will run out of hydrogen and stop producing light and heat. But don’t worry. The sun still has billions of years left before it will stop burning. After it runs out of hydrogen the sun will swell into what is called a red giant star and then shrink into what is called a white dwarf. After billions of years it will eventually grow dark.
Have you ever seen a falling star? Did you think that they are really stars? They look like stars falling from the sky, but actually they are not stars at all. Falling stars are meteors, which are large pieces of rock or other material which enters our atmosphere at high speeds.
Next time you are outside at night look up at the sky. If it is a clear night, you should be able to see thousands of stars glowing in the sky. Each of those stars is actually very large, but it is so far away that it appears small to us. Maybe there is some life form on another planet, somewhere very far away, looking at our sun in the sky, which only looks like a star to them. Weird, huh!?
