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Hey Whyville! I'm here to tell you about the sun. Yes, that big thing in the sky that you're not supposed to look at! Ha-ha! Well, in science class we're learning all about the planets and astronomy, but I didn't think we were learning about the sun, so I did some research on my own. Hope you don't mind, but I find this fascinating.
Did you know that the sun's gravity is the most powerful force in the whole solar system? That's how it holds all of the planets in orbit around it. But, unlike the planets, including the Earth, the sun does not have a solid surface. It is just gas: three-fourths hydrogen, and one-fourth helium.
The diameter of the sun is 1.4 million kilometers. But did you know that the sun is not nearly the biggest star? Oh no, my friend, the sun is average. And the sun is average in brightness, too. I thought the sun was the brightest and biggest star out there, but I guess not.
Now, I know many of you have heard of black holes. And you probably thought they weren't real, since you mostly only hear about them in science fiction movies and books. But, black holes actually are real. A gigantic star (one that is 40 times larger than the sun) has a chance of becoming a black hole when it dies. The gravity of the star becomes so strong that it pulls itself inward. Kind of like the opposite of exploding, it implodes. It becomes smaller and smaller, pulling itself in, tighter and tighter, and the gravity gets stronger and stronger. Eventually, nothing can leave the black hole, not even light.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this brief science lesson. I sure enjoyed researching about all of this!
Hope I Helped,
Jill20
Editor's Note: But why? Why is the sun not solid? Does that affect how it produces light? Why doesn't the Earth create light... or does it? What would it take to turn Jupiter into a sun? I understand that Jupiter almost became a "brown dwarf" -- ever wonder how life would be different if we had a second sun? Would there even *be* life??
Questions, questions, questions... why is it that I always end up with more questions after getting an answer?
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