The Solar System
The SunMercuryVenusEarthMars
The Asteroid BeltJupiterSaturnUranusNeptunePluto
The Sun
The SunSol
Axial Tilt   ?
Sidereal Rotation  
in Earth days  
25-36
Mean Orbital Velocity km/s   ?
Vo or Object's Visible
Magnitude at Opposition
-26.8
Mean Radius km     695,000
Mean  
Diameter  

at Equator  
  km 1,390,000
  miles 864,000
  x Earth 110,000
Mass   kg 1.989 e+30
  x Earth 332,800
Density (grams per cm3)   1.410
Escape Velocity in km per sec   618.02
The Sun, Sol, god of light and life. The only star in this Solar System, once thought to be the only source of energy, emits radiation of nearly every known type and on nearly every measurable wavelength. It is very bright. Do not stare into it. You'll go blind (among other things).

A living power plant, converting hydrogen into helium over its long life of several billion odd years. Sunspots and solar flares cause cell phones and pagers to go out of order, due to satellite malfunction - this is very irritating to the millions of Humans who depend on such things, and obviously have many other things they feel or consider better to do than think up something more reliable, technology wise.

Our Sun has several brothers and sisters just like it, more or less, in this group - likely spawned from the same cosmic event. Some day, hopefully a very long time from now, our sun will inevitably blossom into a Red Giant possessing a diameter larger than the orbit of Mars, swallowing up all of the Inner Planets, including our own world. The Gas Giants, at that point, will most likely either be drawn into the sun as well, or collide into each other, forming one or more little White Dwarf stars - those faint companions we do hear so much about.

When the new version has used up all of its fuel, it will supposedly itself collapse into a White Dwarf - and expel many giga-gallons of its remaining gasses, thereby forming a magnificent nebula (one hopes). If the other stars in the general vicinity tend to do this as well, and right on time, further cosmic collisions may occur - thereby causing additional cosmic events, perhaps resulting in a Stellar Nursery like the Pleiades; and, ultimately, a Stellar Pre-School, like the Hyades. Our star is currently a bachelor with its own pad. Such is life in The Universe. Try not to be very alarmed.




The Solar System
The SunMercuryVenusEarthMars
The Asteroid BeltJupiterSaturnUranusNeptunePluto