A Mystery of Space: S T A R S- [Facts About the Sun]

Our sun is the center of our solar system, and gives us the energy we need to live. Since the sun is, by far, the closest star to Earth, it is the most studied star. The next closest star, Alpha Centauri C, is 4.3 light-years away.
The sun is made up of 71% hydrogen, 27% helium, and 2% of all other elements. The core of the sun has a temperature of almost 29,000,000° F, with the density 150 times that of water.

Picture of the sun from Kitt Peak, Arizona

The surface, or photosphere, has a temperature of 10,800° F. It has a diameter of 870,000 miles (1.4 million km) comparable to Earth's diameter of 7,926 miles. The sun's mass mass of
2.1645^×27 tons (2.1645 octillion tons) , which makes it 333,000 times that of Earth's. The sun is approximately 4.5 billion years old, which is young for a star.

click on image above for the sun animation