Contents
- 10 The sun makes up 99% of the mass of the entire solar system
- 9. The solar system lost two planets
- 8. The sun is getting warmer and brighter
- 7. Even the smallest bodies have satellites
- 6. The age of the solar system is 4,57 billion years
- 5. All the other planets can fit between the Earth and the Moon
- 4. Solar radiation is deadly
- 3. The sun has its own atmosphere
- 2. Light from the sun to the earth takes only eight minutes
- 1. There is more water on the Sun than on Earth
Although most of us are stuck on planet Earth, we are lucky to have a fairly transparent atmosphere. This allows us to look at the sky and observe the changes. In ancient times, people saw planets wandering the sky and occasional visitors such as comets. Thousands of years ago, most believed that the stars controlled our destiny. Today, however, we see how science works on the nature of planets, asteroids and comets near our home.
Remember those planet models we made in elementary school? But the reality is much cooler than this! We present you a list of the 10 most interesting facts about the Sun and the solar system for children in grade 4. New scientific discoveries and amazing conclusions about the universe.
10 The sun makes up 99% of the mass of the entire solar system
The sun is very massive. Ask how much? 99,86% of the mass of the solar system is in our local star, which will show you where the real heavyweight is.
The sun is made up of hydrogen and helium, which shows you that these gases are much more common in our area (and in the universe in general) than the rocks and metals that we are more familiar with here on Earth.
9. The solar system lost two planets
Pluto was originally considered a planet, but due to its extremely small size (much smaller than our moon), it was reclassified as a dwarf planet. Astronomers also once believed that there is a planet Vulcan, and it is even closer to the Sun than Mercury.
Its alleged existence was discussed 150 years ago to explain some of the features of Mercury’s orbit. However, later observations put an end to and ruled out the possibility of the existence of the Volcano.
8. The sun is getting warmer and brighter
The sun is getting hotter (or brighter) with time. As the Sun ages, it slowly warms up due to the accumulation of residual energy released by these basic reactions.
Initially, the Sun was only 70% brighter than it is today. However, the rate of change is so slow that we will not notice anything even for many millennia, let alone one human lifetime.
However, eventually the Sun will become so bright that it will render the Earth uninhabitable.
7. Even the smallest bodies have satellites
It was once thought that only planet-sized objects could have natural satellites. In fact, the existence of moons, or the ability of a planet to gravitationally control a moon in orbit, has sometimes been used as part of defining what a planet really is. It just didn’t seem reasonable that smaller celestial bodies had enough gravity to hold the moon. After all, Mercury and Venus don’t have them at all, and Mars only has tiny moons.
But in 1993, the Galileo probe passed the 20-mile-wide asteroid Ida and discovered its one-mile-wide moon, Dactyl. Since satellites have been discovered orbiting many other minor planets in our solar system.
6. The age of the solar system is 4,57 billion years
How old is the solar system? This is the question that goes to the heart of everything.
By examining several space objects, mostly meteorites, and using radioactive dating techniques and studying daughter isotopes, scientists have found that The solar system is 4,57 billion years old. This age can be extended to most objects and materials in the solar system.
5. All the other planets can fit between the Earth and the Moon
The diameters of all eight planets, including Earth but excluding Pluto, which is no longer classified as a planet:
- Mercury 1,516
- Venus 3761
- Land 3,959
- Mars 2460
- Jupiter 43,441
- Saturn 36,184
- Uranium 15,759
- Neptune 15,299
TOTAL: 122
The Moon and Earth revolve around a common center of gravity, which is within the Earth. The moon also revolves around the earth in an ellipse, so it is sometimes closer than at other times.
- The nearest point of the orbit is called the Perigee, and the farthest one is called the Apogee;
- Perigee (nearest) 221559;
- Apogee (farthest) 252567.
Put the two numbers together and at perigee 55,24% of the distance is filled with planets, while at apogee only 48,45% of the distance is filled.
If all of a sudden the planets are between the Earth and the Moon – it will be the most exciting place in the solar system, but for a very short time, because the Earth will be torn apart by gravitational forces!
4. Solar radiation is deadly
Ultraviolet radiation is divided into three bands: UVA, UVB and UVC.
UVA makes up about 95% of the ultraviolet radiation that reaches the Earth’s surface. This type penetrates deep into the skin and is primarily responsible for premature aging and wrinkling of the skin, as well as skin cancer.
UVB – Most of this type of ultraviolet radiation is filtered by the ozone layer before reaching the Earth’s surface. This type of radiation is more damaging than UVA, attacking the outer layers of the skin and causing sunburn as well as premature aging, wrinkles and eventually skin cancer.
UVC is the most dangerous type of ultraviolet radiation., but basically it cannot reach the Earth’s surface through the ozone layer.
3. The sun has its own atmosphere
Atmosphere of the Sun consists of several layers, mainly the photosphere, chromosphere and corona. It is in these outer layers that the energy of the sun that bubbles up from the inner layers of the sun shows up as sunlight.
The lowest layer of the solar atmosphere is the photosphere. It is about 300 miles (500 kilometers) thick. In this layer, solar energy is released in the form of light. Due to the distance from the Sun to Earth, light takes about eight minutes to reach our planet.
The next layer is the chromosphere. The chromosphere emits a reddish tint when superheated hydrogen is burned. But the red rim can only be seen during a total solar eclipse. In other cases, the light from the chromosphere is usually too weak to be seen in the brighter photosphere.
The third layer of the solar atmosphere is the corona. It can also be seen only during a total solar eclipse. It looks like white streams or jets of ionized gas that flow outward into space. Temperatures in the solar corona can reach 3,5 million degrees Fahrenheit (2 million degrees Celsius). When gases cool, they turn into solar wind.
2. Light from the sun to the earth takes only eight minutes
Earth is located at a distance of 93 million miles (150 million km) from the Sun, a distance known to astronomers as astronomical units or AU. Traveling at the speed of light (186 miles per second), sunlight can travel this vast distance in about 8 minutes and 20 seconds..
1. There is more water on the Sun than on Earth
Like all stars, the Sun contains all known elements, including oxygen and hydrogen. In some places, the sun’s oxygen and hydrogen even combine to form H2O, or water.
Our oceans are thought to have come from outer space when ice-rich comets visited early Earth. But some of this water, which creates the conditions for the emergence of life, may have been born from the Sun.
In addition to providing us with heat and light and forming the gravitational backbone of our solar system, the Sun is constantly pumping out a stream of ions known as the solar wind.
The solar wind, which is made up of charged particles, mostly the bare nuclei of hydrogen atoms, sweeps through the solar system, causing aurora, affecting the chemistry of our atmosphere and, according to a new study, splashing the space with water.