Essay on Sun

Essay on Sun

What we know as the sun is often described as a star. It is situated right in the middle of what we know as the solar system. It is often described to be a huge ball, nearly a perfect sphere and it is said to contain a truckload of hot burning plasma. This ball which is said to contain plasma is said to have motion which is convective in motion. With this, it create what we have come to know as a magnetic field. The sun is without a doubt the earth’s most important source of life. It is said to have a diameter that is a whopping 1.39 million kilometres or 109 times the diameter of our very own planet. It has a mass of about 330,000 times larger than that of the planet Earth and it makes up approximately 99.86 percent of the entire mass that is known as the Solar system. A large percentage of the sun is said to contain Hydrogen (about 73 percent), while the rest made up mostly of helium (about 25 percent). Heavier elements such as carbon, neon and so much more is said to make up the remaining mass.

Quick Facts about the Sun

• It is about 1.496 × 10⁸ km from earth.
• It is about 2.7 × 10¹⁷ km from the centre of the Milky way galaxy(27,200 light years)
• It has a surface area of about 6.09 × 10¹² km². 109 times that of the earth.
• It has a volume of about 1.41 × 10¹⁸ km³. 1.3 million Times that of the earth.
• Its mass is about 1.9885 × 10³⁰ 333,000 times that of the earth.
• Its equatorial surface gravity is 274m/s². 28 times that of the earth.

The Effect of the Sun on Our Earth.

As mentioned before, our sun is easily the most important factor that supports life on earth. Without it and the energy, it provides in the form of light and heat, the earth would be nothing more than a lifeless mass of cold rock. Earth’s sun gives warmth to the seas, stirs out atmosphere, is responsible for our weather patterns and supplies energy to the green plants that grow and provide energy in the form of food, as well as oxygen for life on earth. Apart from such obvious effects of the sun on life on earth as light and heat, the sun also affects our planet and the society in more subtle ways.

Other Benefits of the Sun

Apart from the fact that the sun provides energy in the form of heat and light that allows plants and animals to function the way they are meant to, the sun also serves other vital purposes.

• Earth’s sun is vital in the water cycle that results in the formation of the clouds, the rain and the winds.
• Earth’s sun is vital in the formation of major sources of fuel such as petroleum and coal.
• Certain amounts of exposure to sunlight are necessary for growth as it helps in the formation of vitamin D that is needed for skeletal growth.
• Earth’s sun is one of the major sources of electricity. Large solar farms across the world attest to the value of this source of green energy.

Conclusion

As the sun is the major source of Ultraviolet rays, and excessive exposure to this form of radiation can result in many problems with cancer as one of them. Still, it would be unwise to try to avoid these problems by avoiding the sun completely. Staying indoors most of the time is also not advisable as this will limit the amount of physical activity you engage in, which will result in problems of its own.

Here are some of the easy steps you can take to protect yourself.

• One of the most obvious ways to protect yourself is to seek shade and avoid exposure to excessive sun rays if you can prevent it
• It also helps to protect your skin with clothing.
• Ensure to use sunscreen when necessary to protect your skin from UV rays.

The sun is really vital in all that we do!

By Caleb