The Sun
The Sun is the star at the center of the solar system and is by far the largest object in it. It has a diameter of about 1.39 million kilometers and a mass of approximately 1.99 x 10^30 kilograms, accounting for about 99.86% of the total mass of the solar system. The Sun is a nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, with internal convective motion that generates its magnetic field. The temperature at the Sun's core is about 15 million degrees Celsius, where nuclear fusion occurs, releasing energy in the form of electromagnetic waves and heat. This energy is radiated outwards, and it takes about 8 minutes and 20 seconds for it to reach Earth, which is about 149.6 million kilometers away. The Sun rotates on its axis, completing one rotation in about 25.4 Earth days near the equator and about 34 Earth days near the poles. The Sun is classified as a G-type main-sequence star, with a lifespan of about 10 billion years, and it has a complex system of magnetic activity that produces sunspots, flares, and coronal mass ejections that can affect Earth's space environment. The Sun has been studied extensively by a variety of telescopes and spacecraft, including the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and the Parker Solar Probe.
The Sun is currently in the constellation of Aries, at a distance of 150,286,494 kilometers from Earth.
View interactive star map
Today's rise, transit and set times of The Sun from Greenwich, United Kingdom (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
- Sun is below the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom .
- Go to interactive sky chart
If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.
Today Sunspots Activity
Here is a recent image of the Sun's surface showing the current sunspot activity:
The Sun Position and Finder Charts
Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where The Sun is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
Also check out Where is The Sun?, a page that provides all the information needed to find The Sun in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
The Sun Distance from Earth
The distance of The Sun from Earth is currently 150,286,494 kilometers, equivalent to 1.004603 Astronomical Units. Light takes 8 minutes and 21.3018 seconds to travel from The Sun and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of The Sun from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.
The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of Sun from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest Approach of The Sun to Earth
Between 1 January 1600 and 30 December 2499, the closest approach of The Sun to Earth happens on Tue Dec 27 1605 at a distance of 0.983059 Astronomical Units, or 147,063,549 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
The Sun Brightness and Light Curve
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of The Sun, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.
The Sun Physical Data
The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of The Sun. Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Physical Parameter | Value | Relative to Earth |
|---|---|---|
| Diameter | 1391684 km | 109.2202 |
| Mass | 1989000 x 1024 kg | 333,043.6574 |
| Density | 1.41 gr/cm3 | 0.2557 |
| Escape Velocity | 618.02 km/s | 55.2297 |
| Sideral Rotation | 587.2800 hours | 24.5370 |
| Absolute Magnitude | -26.8 |
The Sun 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of The Sun computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate The Sun in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Apparent DiameterDiameter | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 Apr 12 | 01h 22m 15s | +08° 39’ 34” | -26.74 | 1,914.2” | Pisces |
| 2024 Apr 13 | 01h 25m 58s | +09° 01’ 26” | -26.74 | 1,913.7” | Pisces |
| 2024 Apr 14 | 01h 29m 39s | +09° 23’ 08” | -26.74 | 1,913.2” | Pisces |
| 2024 Apr 15 | 01h 33m 20s | +09° 44’ 39” | -26.74 | 1,912.6” | Pisces |
| 2024 Apr 16 | 01h 37m 02s | +10° 06’ 02” | -26.73 | 1,912.1” | Pisces |
| 2024 Apr 17 | 01h 40m 45s | +10° 27’ 14” | -26.73 | 1,911.6” | Pisces |
| 2024 Apr 18 | 01h 44m 27s | +10° 48’ 15” | -26.73 | 1,911.1” | Pisces |
| 2024 Apr 19 | 01h 48m 11s | +11° 09’ 06” | -26.73 | 1,910.6” | Aries |
| 2024 Apr 20 | 01h 51m 55s | +11° 29’ 47” | -26.73 | 1,910.0” | Aries |
| 2024 Apr 21 | 01h 55m 39s | +11° 50’ 15” | -26.73 | 1,909.5” | Aries |
| 2024 Apr 22 | 01h 59m 24s | +12° 10’ 32” | -26.73 | 1,909.0” | Aries |
| 2024 Apr 23 | 02h 03m 09s | +12° 30’ 37” | -26.73 | 1,908.5” | Aries |
| 2024 Apr 24 | 02h 06m 54s | +12° 50’ 29” | -26.73 | 1,908.0” | Aries |
| 2024 Apr 25 | 02h 10m 40s | +13° 10’ 08” | -26.73 | 1,907.5” | Aries |