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The Sun

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“SUN”

The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields. The Sun is a G-type main-sequence star comprising about 99.86% of the total mass of the Solar System. The Sun consists of plasma and is not solid. It rotates faster at its equator than at its poles. This behavior is known as differential rotation, and is caused by convection in the Sun and the movement of mass.

The Sun is a Population I or heavy element-rich star. The formation of the Sun may have been triggered by shockwaves from one or more supernovas. The Sun does not have a definite boundary as rocky planets do. Through most of the Sun's life, energy is produced by nuclear fusion through a series of steps called the proton–proton chain. This process converts hydrogen into helium.

The Sun is a magnetically active star that supports a strong, changing magnetic field that varies year to year and reverses direction about every eleven years around solar maximum. The Sun's magnetic field leads to many effects that are called solar activity which carries material through the Solar System. Solar activity changes the structure of Earth's outer atmosphere. All matter in the Sun is in the form of gas and plasma because of its high temperatures. This makes it possible for the Sun to rotate faster at its equator than it does at higher latitudes.

The Sun was formed about 4.57 billion years ago from the collapse of part of a giant molecular cloud that consisted mostly of hydrogen and helium and which probably gave birth to many other stars. Studies of ancient meteorites reveal traces of stable daughter nuclei of short-lived isotopes that only form in exploding short-lived stars. This shows that one or more supernovae must have occurred near the location where the Sun formed. The Sun does not have

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