NASA Celestia Guided Activity

The Sun

The Sun is the one
That enables all the fun
The chlorophyll in the flowers and trees
That feed and shade the birds and the bees

The Sun also has another name—
Its Roman name is Sol
Sol gives us all our heat and light
Without ever a toll or price

Sol is the nearest star to Earth
A giant hydrogen ball of gas
Keeping us warm, yet not too cold
4.5 billion Earth years old

Every little beam of light from Sol
Always obeys the maximum speed limit
For light to get from there to here
It must travel over 8 whole minutes!

Sol has some freckles we call sunspots
Hydrogen whirlpools just a little more cool—
They are a little darker because they’re less hot
Tornados bigger than Earth in the Sun’s pool

These sunspots increase to over 100
Then drop to just a few
Repeating this cycle every 11 years—
Maybe just a little younger than you!

View the entire solar system in Celestia

Distance view of the entire solar system

If you take your time—and look real close in
See the sunspots move with the Sun as it turns
Use them to figure out how fast Sol spins
Pay attention, be smart, there’s much you will learn

Sol is a lot like you and your neighbor
Where we have skin, flesh and bones
Sol also has three different layers
Its core, radiation, and convective zones

Sol keep your flame a burning
As you spin ‘round a turning
And maybe I can get an “A”
If I can say, just how many Earth days
It takes you to spin!

Music Complements of Catherine Fowler