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Solar Facts
The Sun is on average 93 million miles (150 million km) away from Earth and 900,000 miles (1.4 million km) across.
The Earth is about 8,000 miles (13,000 km) across.
Think of the Sun as a basketball and Earth as pin head and you have the proper proportions.
It takes a little over 8 minutes for light from the Sun to reach Earth.
Approximately 1 million Earths would fit inside the Sun.
Solar radius =695,990 km =432,470 mi =109 Earth radii
Solar mass =1.989 1030 kg =4.376 1030 lb =333,000 Earth masses
Solar luminosity (energy output of the Sun) = 3.846 1033 erg/s
Surface temperature =5770 K =10,400 °F
Surface density =2.07 10-7 g/cm³ =1.6 10-4 Air density
Surface composition =70% H, 28% He, 2% (C, N, 0, ...) by mass
Central temperature =15,600,000 K =28,000,000 °F
Central density = 150 g/cm³ =8x Gold density
Central composition =35% H, 63% He, 2% (C, N, 0, ...) by mass
Troubleshooting
Solar observing is a unique aspect of the telescope hobby and there are a few things to keep in mind and tricks that may
assist in the early outings, even for those who may have owned one or more traditional night time telescopes:
Locating the Sun: Sometimes the single hardest thing for new owners to master is the simple act of locating the brightest
object in the sky. One pro tip is to simply look at and minimize the shadow of the telescope on the ground. Flat level
ground like a sidewalk will make this easier.
