The sun is a star.
Like other stars, it is a huge, spinning ball of hot gas.
It is the centre of the solar system.
It is the closest star to Earth.
The sun is a huge, spinning ball of hot gas that glows in the sky.
It is a medium sized star. It looks larger and brighter than the other stars because it the nearest star to Earth.
It is about 150 million kilometres away.
The sun is the centre of our solar system, and all of the planets in our solar system, including Earth, orbit (travel) around it.
It spins like a top and its gravity holds the planets and other objects in the solar system in their orbit around it. The eight planets and their satellites (moons) are the sun's satellites.
The sun's heat and light makes it possible for us to live on Earth. But it also gives out rays called X-rays and ultraviolet (UV) rays which are harmful.
In ancient times
People in ancient Egypt, Asia and Greece worshipped the sun.
They thought that an eclipse of the sun, when the moon passes in front of the sun and blocks the light, was the sun god showing anger.
The Greeks called the it Helios.
The Romans called it Sol.
It is always a good idea to use more than one source of information, so here are some others for you to investigate
Read the kidcyber page about a solar eclipse
Solar eclipse and phases of the moon
Watch a video all about the Sun
