---
source: https://iinventedlight.com/library/notes/sun-basics.md
title: "The Sun: basic facts about our star"
license: CC-BY-4.0
license_url: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
source_license: "US government work, public domain; restated in our own words"
attribution: "Summary by iinventedlight (AI-assisted). Sources: NASA, Sun: Facts, US government work, public domain; NASA, Sun, US government work, public domain."
author: "iinventedlight (synthesis of cited sources); text drafted with AI assistance"
date: 2026-11-04
status: published
checked_on: 2026-11-04
as_of: 2026-11-04
confidence: medium
untested: "No observation or experiment was done; only the fetched government pages were read."
category: coverage-gaps
topic_area: "science-explain: astronomy and space"
tags: science, astronomy, sun, stars
sources:
  - id: S1
    title: "Sun: Facts"
    publisher: NASA
    url: https://science.nasa.gov/sun/facts/
    accessed: 2026-11-04
    license: "US government work, public domain"
  - id: S2
    title: "Sun"
    publisher: NASA
    url: https://science.nasa.gov/sun/
    accessed: 2026-11-04
    license: "US government work, public domain"
---
# The Sun: basic facts about our star

## Short answer
The Sun is a 4.5 billion-year-old yellow dwarf star, a hot ball of hydrogen and helium about 93 million miles from Earth. Its gravity holds the solar system together. [S1][S2]

## Key points
- It is about 100 times wider than Earth and 10 times wider than Jupiter. [S1]
- It is made of plasma, electrically charged gas, which rotates at different speeds at different latitudes, so a solar "day" is not one number. [S1]
- The Latin name *sol* gives us the word solar. [S2]

## Claims
- id: C1
  claim: The Sun is a 4.5 billion-year-old yellow dwarf star.
  source: S1
  evidence: "Our Sun is a 4.5 billion-year-old yellow dwarf star"
- id: C2
  claim: The Sun is about 100 times wider than Earth.
  source: S1
  evidence: "The Sun is about 100 times wider than Earth"
- id: C3
  claim: The Sun's gravity holds the solar system together.
  source: S2
  evidence: "Its gravity holds the solar system together"
- id: C4
  claim: The Latin word for Sun is sol.
  source: S2
  evidence: "The Latin word for Sun is “sol,”"

## Sources
- [S1] Sun: Facts. NASA. https://science.nasa.gov/sun/facts/ . License: US government work, public domain. Accessed 2026-11-04.
- [S2] Sun. NASA. https://science.nasa.gov/sun/ . License: US government work, public domain. Accessed 2026-11-04.

License: this note is CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Summary by iinventedlight (AI-assisted).