The sun is a star. It is at the center of our solar system. Many stars are like it in the Milky Way. Let's find out more about it.

Now let's look closer. The sun is a huge ball of gas. It is mostly hydrogen and helium. You could not stand on its surface.

Let's look inside the sun. Deep in the sun's core, fusion turns hydrogen into helium. This makes the sun's energy. The core is about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit.

The sun gives off light. It also gives off heat. Its light and heat warm Earth. They make life possible.

The sun's surface is about 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Sunspots are dark, cooler spots on it.

The sun is about 93 million miles from Earth. Its light takes about 8 minutes to reach us. That is very far.

The sun is about 100 times wider than Earth. It would take 1.3 million Earths to fill it. That is a lot of Earths.

Never look at the sun without eye protection. That means gear made for looking at the sun.

Nothing could live on the sun. But its energy is vital for most life on Earth. So the sun matters a lot to all of us.

Words to know

• fusion: hydrogen into helium
• core: the middle
• sunspots: cooler dark spots