In this topic you will learn about the features of the Sun.

The Sun is a star. A star is a hot glowing sphere of gases that gives off energy. Earth receives the Sun's energy in the form of heat and light. The Sun is a medium-sized star. It looks much larger than other stars because it is so close to Earth.

The Sun has a lot of mass. Since the Sun is so massive, the pull of its gravity is strong. The Sun's gravity pulls on Earth and the other planets. A planet is a satellite of the Sun. The Sun's gravity pulls the planets toward the Sun. The planets' motion keeps them from falling into the Sun.

The Sun is millions of times hotter than the hottest place on Earth. The light from the Sun is very bright, so you should never look directly at the Sun. Some places on the Sun are cooler than the rest of the Sun. These places are dark areas on the Sun's surface called sunspots. Sunspots are not permanent. Sometimes there are many sunspots. Sometimes there are fewer sunspots. Around the Sun there is a layer of gases called the corona. You can see the corona during a total solar eclipse.

Coal, oil, and gas are fuels that contain energy from the Sun. A fuel is something that is burned to provide heat or power. These fuels were formed from plants and animals that lived long ago. These plants and animals used the Sun's energy, just as living things use it today. When we burn these fuels today, we are using stored energy that originally came from the Sun.

Sometimes there are storms on the Sun. Gases explode and give off a lot of energy. Loops of gas can move above the Sun's surface and into the corona. These loops are called prominences.

Without the Sun, there would be no life on Earth.