What is the closest star to the Earth
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008We’ve already answered in a previous post that the Sun is the closest star to the Earth, but when most people ask this they’re really asking, what is the closest star to the Sun. The closest star to the Sun is Proxima Centauri at 4.2 light-years away.
Interestingly, most folks often think of Alpha Centauri as […]
How many planets are there in our solar system and what are their names?
Thursday, May 1st, 2008There’s a lot more to our solar system than the planets. I’ll cover some of the less known objects and phenomenon such as the Oort Cloud, Kuiper Belt and other strange stuff in a future post, but when people think solar system, they usually think of the planets in orbit around the Sun. Our solar […]
How far away is the Earth from the Sun?
Wednesday, April 30th, 2008The Earth circles peacefully around the Sun at about 149 million kilometers or 92.75 million miles on average. Our orbit is slightly elliptical so our distance swings from anywhere as far as 94.5 million miles and as close as 91 million miles. There are a lot of interesting facts about the Earth I’ll save for […]
How big is the Sun?
Monday, April 28th, 2008The Sun is about 1,392,000 kilometers or 875,000 miles across. If you wanted to put a belt on the sun to hold up its pants you would want to know its circumference and for that you just apply a little math. The circumference of a sphere is determined by multiplying 2 times pi (3.14) times […]
How old is the Sun and how long will it live?
Monday, April 28th, 2008The Sun is about 4.57 billion years into its main-sequence stage and when we think of its age, that’s the number generally agreed on. You can think of this as the relatively stable period in a star’s life after it forms and during which it converts Hydrogen into Helium in a process known as nuclear […]
What is the Sun and what is it made of?
Monday, April 28th, 2008If you’re ever away from the glare of city lights on a cloudless night, take a look up into the sky and marvel at the countless thousands of sparkling stars you see up there. Pick one you like and point your finger at it. Now imagine that maybe, just maybe, the star you’ve picked has […]