The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. The Earth and other matter (including other planets, asteroids, meteoroids, comets and dust) orbit the Sun, which by itself accounts for about 99.8% of the solar system's mass. Energy from the Sun—in the form of sunlight—supports almost all life on Earth via photosynthesis, and drives the Earth's climate and weather.
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Observation data
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Mean distance from Earth
|
149.6x106 km
(8.31 minutes at the speed of light)
|
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Visual brightness (V)
|
-26.8m
|
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Absolute magnitude
|
4.8m
|
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Spectral classification
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G2V
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Physical characteristics
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Mean diameter
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1.392x106 km (109 Earths)
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Mass
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1.988¤435x1010 kg (332,946 Earths)
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Density
|
1,408 kg/m3
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Surface temperature
|
5785 K
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Temperature of corona
|
5 MK
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Core temperature
|
∼ 13.6 MK
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Luminosity (Lsol)
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3.827x1026 W
∼ 3.75x1028 lm
(∼ 98 lm/W efficacy)
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Mean Intensity (Lsol)
|
2.009x107 W m-2 sr-1
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Rotation characteristics
|
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Obliquity
|
7.25° (to the ecliptic)
|
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Rotation period at equator
|
25.38 days
(25 d 9 h 7 min 13 s)
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Rotation velocity at equator
|
7174 km/h
|
| Orbital characteristics
Epoch J2000 |
| Aphelion distance : |
152,097,701 km
(1.016 710 333 5 AU) |
| Perihelion
distance : |
147,098,074 km
(0.983 289 891 2 AU) |
| Semi-major
axis : |
149,597,887.5 km
(1.000 000 112 4 AU) |
| Semi-minor
axis : |
149,576,999.826 km
(0.999 860 486 9 AU) |
| Eccentricity : |
0.016 710 219 |
| Sidereal
period : |
365.256 366 day (1.000 017 5 yr ) |
| Avg. orbital speed of the Earth: |
29.783 km/s (107,218 km/h ) |
| Max. orbital
speed : |
30.287 km/s (109,033 km/h ) |
| Min. orbital
speed : |
29.291 km/s (105,448 km/h ) |
| Argument
of perihelion : |
114.207 83° |
