Inside the Sun
Which sounds more impossible?
Choose the fact that stretches belief furthest.
Both are true.
The Sun is not just hot, its interior is incredibly dense. Energy made in the core gets absorbed, scattered and re-emitted again and again. The journey outward can take more than 170,000 years.
Once it reaches the surface, that energy crosses space to Earth in about 8 minutes.
Earth's share
How much of the Sun's energy reaches Earth?
About one part in 2.2 billion.
To picture how little that is, turn 2.2 billion into seconds. It becomes:
70years
roughly a human lifetime.
Earth's share would be just
1second
out of that entire span.
About 30% of even that tiny share is reflected back into space, mainly by clouds, but also by the atmosphere and bright surfaces such as ice and snow.
What remains warms our planet, drives its climate and supports virtually all life.
Almost everything in the Solar System is the Sun.
Everything else is just crumbs.
Mass of the Solar System
99.8% SunNote: The speckles are not individual objects. They’re just a visual way to divide up the tiny share of mass outside the Sun.
Everything else discovered so far:
, , about , about , and about (including asteroid moons)
In mass terms, the Solar System is basically the Sun.
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The Sun's System
About 4.6 billion years ago, a vast cloud of gas and dust collapsed under its own gravity. Almost all of that material gathered at the centre and became the Sun; the planets, moons and everything else in the Solar System formed from what remained.
Today, the Sun is about 333,000 times more massive than Earth. Its immense gravity keeps the planets in orbit and holds the Solar System together.
But the Sun will not remain unchanged forever. In the distant future, as it grows hotter and brighter, it will eventually make Earth uninhabitable.
Without the Sun, there is no Earth, no life here, no story.