[ intro ]
[Jessi] Oh, hey, Squeaks!
You’re up early today!
[Squeaks explains]
Oh… the Sun woke you up, and you couldn’t get back to sleep?
That happens to me sometimes, too!
The Sun is shining really brightly out there!
It looks like it’s going to be a perfect day for our hike around the Fort!
[Squeaks perks up] Yeah, that’s the spirit!
[to audience] You know, we don’t often think about the
Sun…
[Squeaks chimes in]
You’re right - unless it’s shining right in our faces.
But it makes you think: What is the Sun, really?
[Sam] Did I hear someone ask a question about the
Sun?
[Jessi] Oh, hi, Sam!
Our friend Sam the Bat is calling from the fort’s observatory!
Sam is a bit of an astronomer,
which means he’s someone that studies astronomy.
Astronomy is the study of things that are in space —
things like other planets… the Moon... and the stars!
Stars like the Earth’s Sun!
[Sam] Yup, the Sun is a star…
just like the ones you might be able to see in the sky at night.
And it’s the center of our solar system.
That’s the part of space we live in, and it includes the Sun,
plus all the planets that travel around it —
including the Earth!
In fact, the Earth takes about 365 days to go the whole way around the Sun…
In other words, it takes one year!
[Jessi] So, if you're six years old,
that means the Earth has gone around the Sun six times since you were born!
Cool!
[Sam] And what’s even cooler about the Sun is
how hot it is!
...well, maybe “cooler” isn’t the best word.
But it’s really interesting!
Like all stars, our Sun is a ball of burning gases.
[Squeaks chimes in]
[Jessi] You’re right, Squeaks!
There are also gases here on Earth,
like in the air that we’re breathing right now.
But the gases on Earth are a lot colder than the ones in the Sun.
[Sam] Right!
The gases in the Sun are really hot,
and they make light, and heat — lots of it!
How hot is the Sun?
Well, imagine you’re playing outside on a warm, summer day.
It’s about 27 degrees Celsius, or 80 degrees Fahrenheit,
and you feel a little hot and sweaty.
Well, the surface of the Sun is about 5700 degrees Celsius,
or more than 10 thousand degrees Fahrenheit!
[Jessi] That’s really, really hot!
Anything
that gets too close to the Sun would burn up!
[Sam] It’s true!
And the Sun’s not only hotter than Earth.
It’s a lot wider than Earth…
over one hundred times wider!
[Squeaks has an idea]
[Jessi] Oh, good idea, Squeaks!
We can make a model that shows what “one hundred times wider” looks like!
We use models to help us understand or explain something in the world around us.
A ball or other toy can be a model of a planet.
So with a model, we can use some things we found around the Fort
to show how big the Sun is compared to the Earth!
[Sam] Good idea!
Astronomers use models all the time.
[Jessi] Great!
Let’s use this pin to represent Earth in our model.
If the Earth was the size of the end of this pin —
which is pretty small! —
the Sun would be about the size of this basketball.
That’s a big difference!
[Sam] It is!
But, you know,
the Sun is actually only kind of medium-sized when you compare it to other stars.
Like, red dwarf stars are smaller than our Sun.
In fact, they’re some of the smallest stars in space!
On our model, they would only be about as big as a postage stamp.
Then, there are supergiant stars.
Like the name says, those are… super giant!
They’re over a thousand times wider than our Sun!
In our model,
a star like that would be as wide as a skyscraper is tall!
[Jessi] Whoa, we’d need a bigger Fort to hold that
model!
[Squeaks]
Oh, good question, Squeaks.
[Jessi] Squeaks said that he’s seen pictures of
the Sun,
and it looks much bigger than the stars he sees in the night sky.
So, why is that?
If other stars are actually much bigger than the Sun,
why do they look so small?
[Sam] Well, that’s because the Sun is the closest
star to Earth!
Other stars are so far away that even in our fastest rocket,
it would take thousands and thousands of years to get there.
But the Sun is much closer!
I mean… it’s still about 150 million kilometers away,
which is pretty far.
That means if you tried to drive to the Sun at the same speed as you can drive on a highway,
it would still take you over 170 years to get there!
But it turns out that this distance is pretty perfect for our planet.
The Sun’s heat and light make it possible for all sorts of plants and animals —
including us — to live on the Earth.
Any closer, and the Earth would be too hot.
If it were any farther away…
it would be too cold!
[Jessi] It’s just like the story Goldielocks and
the Three Bears!
As stars go, our Sun is just right.
[Sam] And you know one more thing about the Sun?
When it comes up, it’s time for bats like me to go take a nap.
Bye!
[Jessi] Thanks, Sam!
and thank you for joining us here today!
It was so fun to have Sam the Bat over to tell us more about the Sun.
If you want to keep learning and having fun with me,
Squeaks, and all our friends, be sure to hit the subscribe button,
and we'll see you next time here at The Fort!
[ outro ]