(WKBN) — It is a bright afternoon with sunny skies, helping to push our temperatures back into the 40s. The cold air feels better in the sun thanks to the power it has. That power gets even greater through the spring.

The sun is a giant ball in space and is around 4.5 billion years old. That is a lot of zeros after the 45 (4,500,000,000)!

How far away is the sun?

Here are some fun facts about the distance to the sun:

  • On average, the sun is 93 million miles from the earth
  • It would take 1,430,769 hours to drive there at 65 miles per hour
  • It would take 59,615 days to drive there at 65 miles per hour
  • It would take 163 years to drive there

It would be faster to fly to the sun:

  • It would take 169,090 hours to fly there at 550 miles per hour
  • It would take 7,045 days to fly there at 550 miles per hour
  • It would take 19.3 years to fly there

How big is the sun?

The sun is very big! In fact, the sun’s volume could hold 1.3 million earths in order to fill it, according to NASA.

The large mass of the sun and its gravity holds the solar system together. 

How hot is the sun?

The hottest part of the sun is its core, where temperatures top 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. The surface of the sun is around 10,340 degrees Fahrenheit.

What is the sun made of?

The sun is a star that is made of a giant ball of hydrogen and helium.

Our sun is a 4.5 billion-year-old star – a hot glowing ball of hydrogen and helium at the center of our solar system. 

A large majority of the sun is made of hydrogen. The hydrogen is constantly fusing together causing helium to form. This process is known as nuclear fusion. It creates a large amount of energy. This energy helps the earth stay warm giving us a nice place to live.

There are some small percentages of other gasses and metals in the sun. Less than 2% of the sun is made from these gasses and metals.

What the sun is made of:
Hydrogen
Helium
Less than 2% below:
Iron
Nickel
Oxygen
Silicon
Sulfur
Magnesium
Carbon
Neon
Calcium
Chromium

A fun fact about the sun is that it is not a solid mass. It is made of layers of hydrogen and helium.