Most of us have learned in school that there are three components required for fire: fuel, oxygen and heat. But there is no oxygen or any other gas in space because the gravitational pull of planets keep gasses within their atmosphere. How, then, does the sun burn without oxygen?
The answer is that the sun actually doesn't burn, not in the sense that we are used to. The heat and light of the sun is due to the nuclear reactions that occur inside it. To us, it appears as though the sun is on fire but it is not.
The nuclear reactions within the sun are so powerful that its core temperature reaches 27 million Fahrenheit (15 million Celsius).
More about the sun:
- The earth is located 93 million miles (about 149 million kilometers) away from the sun.
- Our atmosphere protects us from the ultraviolet lights of the sun, which is why scientists are worried about the potential consequences of ozone depletion.
- Scientists believe that in another 4.5 billion years, the sun will become a "red giant" and eventually enter a process where it will run out of energy.
