☀️
🌟
💫
☀️ KNOW PRIMARY · AGES 6–11

PLANETS &
SPACE

☀️ From the Blazing Sun to the Frozen Outer Reaches — Our Cosmic Home!

📖 150 Topics 🆓 FREE + PRO ⏱️ 5 min per comic 🧠 Quiz included
☀️
4.6 BYA
Sun's Birth
→
🌟
EARLY STAR
Fusion Begins
→
💫
MAIN SEQUENCE
Stable Today
→
🔥
ACTIVITY
Solar Flares
→
⭐
FUTURE
5B Years Left
☀️ THE SUN: OUR STAR
TOPIC 02 · PLANETS & SPACE · 4.6 BILLION YEARS OLD
PAGE 1 OF 5 — BIRTH OF OUR STAR
OUR STAR IS BORN
A giant nebula cloud of gas and dust collapsing under gravity 4.6 billion years ago to form our solar system
4.6 BILLION YEARS AGO
Our Solar System began as a giant cloud of gas and dust floating in space. Gravity pulled everything inward, spinning faster and faster. The centre got hotter and hotter until...
⚡ DID YOU KNOW?
The Sun is still the same age as Earth - they were born at exactly the same time!
BOOM!
THE NEBULA
A swirling nebula cloud of gas being pulled inward by gravity
🌫️ A cloud of gas and dust
🌪️ Gravity pulls it inward
FUSION REACTION
Nuclear fusion: hydrogen atoms fusing into helium under extreme heat and pressure
🔥 Heat and pressure build
⚛️ Hydrogen fuses to helium
PAGE 2 OF 5 — INSIDE THE SUN
INTERNAL STRUCTURE
Cross-section of the Sun's internal layers: core, radiative zone, and convective zone
LAYERS OF POWER
The Sun isn't solid - it's a giant ball of hot plasma held together by its own gravity. The core is so hot and under so much pressure that hydrogen atoms fuse into helium, releasing massive amounts of energy. This is nuclear fusion!
FUSION!
PHOTOSPHERE
The Sun's photosphere: the visible surface layer with swirling convection cells
👁️ Visible surface layer
🌊 Convection cells swirl
SUNSPOTS
Dark sunspots on the Sun caused by strong magnetic fields creating cooler regions
🌑 Darker, cooler spots
🧲 Strong magnetic fields
PROMINENCES
Bright solar prominences: glowing plasma arcs held by magnetic loops above the Sun
🔶 Bright glowing arcs
💥 Magnetic loops hold plasma
PAGE 3 OF 5 — THE SOLAR WIND
CORONA
The Sun's corona: the outer atmosphere glowing as a halo during a solar eclipse
✨ Outer atmosphere
🌟 Visible in eclipses
AURORA
Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights): colorful sky lights caused by solar wind hitting Earth
🌈 Northern lights on Earth
🌪️ Solar wind hitting atmosphere
SOLAR WIND
Solar wind: streams of charged particles blasting outward from the Sun across the solar system
PARTICLES IN SPACE
The Sun constantly sends out a stream of charged particles called the solar wind. It flows past all the planets and into deep space. On Earth, our magnetic field protects us from these particles - but sometimes they slip through and create beautiful Northern Lights!
WIND!
PAGE 4 OF 5 — SOLAR ACTIVITY
VIOLENT EXPLOSIONS
A massive solar flare explosion on the Sun's surface releasing incredible energy
SOLAR FLARES & ERUPTIONS
Sometimes the Sun throws a tantrum! Solar flares are massive explosions on the Sun's surface that can be as powerful as billions of nuclear bombs. Coronal mass ejections send billions of tonnes of plasma into space. Scientists watch these closely because they can affect satellites and power grids on Earth!
BLAST!
SOLAR FLARES
Solar flare: a sudden bright eruption releasing extreme energy from the Sun's surface
💥 Sudden bright eruptions
🔶 Release extreme energy
MASS EJECTIONS
Coronal mass ejection: billions of tonnes of plasma launched into space from the Sun
🌊 Giant waves of plasma
⚡ Billions of tonnes shot out
MAGNETISM
The Sun's magnetic field lines shaping all solar activity, sunspots, and flares
🧲 Magnetic field lines
⭐ Shapes all solar activity
PAGE 5 OF 5 — THE SUN'S POWER
MASSIVE POWER
Size comparison: the enormous Sun next to tiny Earth — 1.3 million Earths would fit inside
1.3 MILLION EARTHS!
The Sun is absolutely enormous - you could fit 1.3 million Earths inside it! Every second, it fuses 600 million tonnes of hydrogen into helium. This tiny fraction of that energy reaches Earth as light and heat, powering plants to grow and creating all weather. Without the Sun, nothing could live.
GIANT!
STAR POWER
⚡ KEY FACTS
• 4.6 billion years old • 5 billion years left • 109x wider than Earth • Nuclear fusion fuel source
🌞 Lights all planets
🔥 Heats all life
⚡ Core age: 4.6 BYA
FUTURE SUN
In 5 billion years, the Sun will run out of hydrogen. It will expand into a Red Giant and swallow Mercury, Venus, and probably Earth. Then it will collapse into a White Dwarf - a tiny, incredibly dense remnant. But that's far in the future!

🌍 We have billions of years left!
☀️ QUIZ TIME!
THE SUN · 5 QUESTIONS
QUESTION 01
How old is the Sun?
QUESTION 02
What keeps the Sun hot inside?
QUESTION 03
How many Earths would fit inside the Sun?
QUESTION 04
What are dark spots on the Sun called?
QUESTION 05
How long does the Sun have left before it dies?
0/5
QUESTIONS CORRECT
Keep learning about space!
← TOPIC 01 📋 ALL TOPICS TOPIC 03 →