Monday, 3 September 2012

The Sun

The sun is a star (ball of plasma) at the center the solar system. It is orbited by planets such as the Earth, Mars and Jupiter and asteroids. It is approximately 1,400,000 kilometers (900,000 miles) in diameter, 109 times bigger than earth's. The sun is around 4.5 billion years old and its temperature is over 27,000,000F.

Picture of the Sun
The sun is composed of various elements such as hydrogen, helium and heavier elements which include  oxygen, carbon, neon and iron. The sun is made from 70% hydrogen and 28% helium and heavier element which have an amount less than 2%.

How the sun was born
The sun was born over 4.5 billion years ago in a vast cloud of gas and dust called nebula which contained mostly hydrogen, helium and traces of heavier elements. 4.5 billions pulled the the gas together and a process called nuclear fusion began and the sun was born.

The death of the sun
The death of sun is thought to happen in about 4.5 billion years. As atoms in the sun are compressed more elements such as oxygen, carbon, neon and iron are formed. However iron does not produce energy as it fuses so the fire begins to go out. As more iron builds up the temperature of the sun will increase by 6% every billion years and expands. It will then become transform into a  red giant and obliterate the inner planets one by one. gravity then squashes it down and the sun explodes. The explosion is called a supernova. During a supernova heavier elements by the energy of explosion. That is how heavier elements such as gold, silver and platinum are made. The core of the sun would then become a white dwarf.