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The Earth and Beyond

Stars - The Sun.

The Sun is our local star.

The Sun is very much bigger than the planets,
more than 300,000 times the mass of the Earth.
The Sun has much more gravity than the planets
and is at the centre of our solar system.
The Earth and the other planets orbit the Sun.
Although the Sun is by far the biggest object in the solar system
it is relatively small compared to many other stars.

The Sun is a main sequence star.
We can feel the heat from the Sun on our skin.
The heat is in the form of electromagnetic radiation (infra-red).
We can see visible light from the Sun as daylight.
Do not look at the Sun directly.
The light intensity is so high that it can permanently damage your eyes.
Visible light is also electromagnetic radiation.

The energy given out by the Sun is the original source
of nearly all the energy on Earth.
Life on Earth depends on the Sun.

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Copyright © 2008 Dr. Colin France. All Rights Reserved.