☀️ Our star, the Sun

Sunspots are darker, cooler patches that appear on the surface of the Sun. They look dark only because they are a little cooler than the blazing gas around them. They come and go over weeks, and counting them helps scientists follow how active the Sun is.

A solar flare is a sudden burst of energy that leaps off the Sun, throwing light and tiny particles out into space. When that stream of particles reaches Earth, our planet's invisible magnetic shield protects us, but the burst can still disturb satellites and radios.

The northern lights, or aurora, appear when tiny particles from the Sun crash into the air high above the Earth's poles. As they hit gases in the sky, they make them glow in ribbons of green, pink and purple. It is a little like how a glowing sign lights up when energy passes through its gas.

The Sun is about halfway through its life and has enough fuel to keep shining for roughly another five billion years. That is far longer than anyone can imagine, so there is no need to worry. Near the very end, it will slowly swell, cool and change, as ordinary stars do.