Photo of Sun, external source.

• It contains approximately 98% of the total solar system mass.
• It is a G2 type star.
• Its interior could hold over 1.3 million Earths.
• The Sun's outer visible layer is called the photosphere and has a temperature of 6,000°C (11,000°F).
• The core has a temperature (15,000,000° C; 27,000,000° F) and pressure (340 billion times Earth's air pressure at sea level).
• The Sun's period of rotation at the surface varies from approximately 25 days at the equator to 36 days at the poles.
• Deep down, below the convective zone, everything appears to rotate with a period of 27 days.
• Its magnetosphere (also known as the heliosphere extends well beyond Pluto).
• Sun emits a low-density stream of charged particles (mostly electrons and protons) known as the solar wind which propagates throughout the solar system at about 450 km/sec.

• Nuclear reaction causes four protons or hydrogen nuclei to fuse together to form one alpha particle or helium nucleus.

• The chromosphere is above the photosphere.
• Faculae and flares arise in the chromosphere.
• Faculae are bright luminous hydrogen clouds which form above regions where sunspots are about to form.
• Flares are bright filaments of hot gas emerging from sunspot regions.
• Sunspots are dark depressions on the photosphere with a typical temperature of 4,000°C (7,000°F).
• Corona is the region that prominences appears.
• Prominences are immense clouds of glowing gas that erupt from the upper chromosphere.

• The Sun will be for 4.6 billion years and has enough fuel to go on for another five billion years or so.
• At the end of its life, the Sun will start to fuse helium into heavier elements and swell to form a red giant.
• After a billion years as a red giant, it will suddenly collapse into a white dwarf.
• It may take a trillion years to cool off completely.

Photo of Sun, taken by web master.

Summary

Sun Statistics
 Mass (kg) ------------------------------------------------------------- 1.989 x 10³⁰
 Mass (Earth = 1) ------------------------------------------------------ 332,830
 Equatorial radius (km) ------------------------------------------------- 695,000
 Equatorial radius (Earth = 1) ------------------------------------------- 108.97
 Mean density (gm/cm³) ------------------------------------------------ 1.410
 Rotational period (days) ----------------------------------------------- 25-36
 Escape velocity (km/sec) ---------------------------------------------- 618.02
 Luminosity (ergs/sec) -------------------------------------------------- 3.827 x 10³³
 Magnitude (V_o) ------------------------------------------------------- -26.8
 Mean surface temperature --------------------------------------------- 6,000°C
 Age (billion years) ----------------------------------------------------- 4.5

• Summarised Solar information (Word 97 document)
• Solar information extracted from Britannica 97