The Sun's Dangerous Tantrums

The Sun's core is so hot that it reaches 27 million degrees Fahrenheit — that's hot enough to make hydrogen fuse into helium and release enormous amounts of energy.

Solar flares are giant explosions on the Sun's surface that can release as much energy as millions of atomic bombs — they can knock out power grids and damage satellites orbiting Earth.

Coronal mass ejections are when the Sun shoots billions of tons of plasma into space at speeds of millions of miles per hour — if one hit Earth directly, it could cause a catastrophe.

The Sun's atmosphere, called the corona, is mysteriously hotter than the Sun's surface — scientists still don't fully understand why this happens, and it remains one of the biggest unsolved mysteries in science.

Sunspots are cooler areas on the Sun's surface that look like dark spots — they're still incredibly hot at 7,000 degrees Fahrenheit, but that's cool compared to the surrounding 10,000-degree surface.

The Sun loses about 600 million tons of mass every single second because it converts matter into energy — despite this massive loss, it has enough fuel to keep burning for another 5 billion years.

Solar winds are streams of charged particles flowing from the Sun that travel at speeds of 250 to 500 miles per second — they create the auroras (Northern and Southern Lights) when they hit Earth's magnetic field.

The Sun rotates, but not like Earth does — the equator spins faster (25 days) than the poles (35 days) because the Sun is made of gas, not solid material.

Without the Sun's gravity holding everything in place, all the planets would fly off into space in straight lines — the Sun's gravity is so powerful it keeps objects orbiting it from 36 million miles away to 50,000 times farther.

Solar cycles happen roughly every 11 years, when the Sun's magnetic field flips and activity increases dramatically — during these times, more solar flares and coronal mass ejections occur, and the auroras become more visible.