The Sun

  • last month
Transcript
00:00We are going to learn about a massive star in the center of our solar system.
00:06What is it called? Yeah, the Sun. Actually the Sun is the only star in our solar
00:13system, but still it is huge, it is bright, and without it life on Earth wouldn't
00:19exist. So it is super important. But let's start here. The first fact about the Sun
00:25we want to learn is that the Sun is just a regular star. That's right, it's
00:29just a regular star. There are hundreds of billions of stars in our galaxy
00:36called the Milky Way galaxy. But the Sun is special to us, right? Because it is in
00:42the center of our solar system. But the Sun really is a regular star. Like other
00:49stars, the Sun uses hydrogen to burn bright. Hydrogen is the Sun's fuel, just
00:55like food is our fuel and gasoline is the fuel used by cars. The Sun uses
01:01hydrogen as fuel. If you're wondering what hydrogen is, hydrogen is a gas found
01:08all over our universe. And it's hard to see because it doesn't have any color to
01:14it. But it's all over the place. In fact, hydrogen is the most common element in
01:19our universe. So stars use a gas called hydrogen as fuel. The larger the star, the
01:27faster it burns through hydrogen. Thankfully the Sun has at least a 5
01:32billion year supply of hydrogen left. So the Sun will keep burning for a long
01:38time. Here's an interesting question. How far is Earth from the Sun? How far is our
01:46planet from this huge star in the center of our solar system? Well, it's pretty far
01:54away. It's pretty far away. The Sun is about 93 million miles away from Earth.
02:00That's right, about 93 million miles away from our planet Earth. And it's a good
02:07thing. It's a great thing that the Sun is about 93 million miles away. Because if
02:13we were any closer to the Sun, it would be way too hot to sustain life. And if we
02:18were further away, we would all freeze. It would be way too cold. So the Sun is the
02:24perfect distance away from the Earth. Of course, having a huge star 93 million
02:31miles away helps us to see things, right? It is helpful to have a massive burning
02:36light in the middle of our solar system that runs on hydrogen. I mean, can you
02:41imagine living in a world without light? It would be like this. This is what our
02:48world would be like without sunlight. It would just be dark. You know, we wouldn't
02:52be able to see anything. We'd be like bumping into each other and it'd be
02:55crazy. We'd be like, oh, wow, is that a mountain or is that a chicken? Or what's
03:02going on? Where am I? What's going on? The sunlight allows our eyes to see what's
03:09going on around us. But the Sun provides more than just sunlight. The Sun provides
03:17energy. One powerful way the Sun provides energy is through a process called
03:21photosynthesis. Wow, that's a big word. Can you say that with us? Photosynthesis?
03:28Yeah, photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is how plants make plant food and produce
03:35oxygen. Without sunlight, plants cannot make plant food or release oxygen. You
03:43know, plants are not alone in using sunlight for energy. We use sunlight for
03:49energy as well. The energy we get from sunlight is called solar energy.
03:57Just like plants capture sunlight in the process of photosynthesis, people capture
04:05sunlight using these things called solar panels. Isn't that cool? Here are two men
04:13installing solar panels. The Sun is powerful. It is awesome to see how we can
04:18use some of its energy to get power and electricity. It has been so much fun
04:26learning about the Sun with you. We learned that the Sun is the only star in
04:33our solar system. Do you remember where in our solar system the Sun is? Uh huh,
04:40right in the middle. Yeah. Like other stars, it uses hydrogen as fuel.
04:48Thankfully, it has a lot of hydrogen, so it will keep burning and burning for a
04:53long time. We learned that the Sun is about 93 million miles away, which is
04:58actually the perfect distance. If the Sun was further away, it would be too cold.
05:03If it was closer, this planet would be way too hot. We also learned that the Sun
05:12not only provides light, it brings energy. Plants use energy from the Sun in a
05:17process called photosynthesis, and people get energy from the Sun using things
05:23like solar panels. Energy from the Sun is called solar energy. The Sun, a regular
05:33star, but it is special to us. It's our star.