The Sun - the nearest star to the Earth

Our Universe is one big mystery, over which many scientists and researchers are racking their brains. Since ancient times, interest in the planet Earth and its "neighbors" has not allowed to sleep peacefully tens of thousands of people. Today, scientists have advanced many steps forward in their studies and have given answers to questions, but only on some. In other respects, space is a great mystery for mankind.

Earth and the nearest stars

The planet Earth, as you know, is by no means the only one in the universe and not the largest (small) in size. But it is truly unique for many reasons. Among them: the presence of water and oxygen, which helps us to live, unique soils, microelements, ideal distance from the Sun and much more. Quite often people want to learn about what is happening outside of our planet.

The closest star to Earth is also interesting for fans of the unusual. Long since the sun was called that huge ball, which is located next to our planet. As is known, this unique star differs from all the others: it consists of a red-hot plasma, and no creature in the Universe can be near it.

Characteristics of the Sun

Scientists have determined that it is the Sun that occupies 99.8% of the total mass of the system. In addition, the star is a source of energy, thanks to which everything that we see around is happening. It is not in vain that ancient civilizations worshiped the Sun. They perfectly understood its importance in our life and idolized it.

An interesting fact is the size of the Sun. Scientists claim that inside it can be placed 1300 planets Earth. In addition, it, like a magnet, attracts to itself other objects of the system and satellites, as well as cosmic dust, asteroids.

Features of the Sun

It was found that the closest star to the Earth is the Sun, therefore (and for many other reasons) it was given so much time. As a result of the research, scientists have established that it was formed from a cloud of gas and dust about 4.6 billion years ago. It is known that the Sun very slowly heats up, absorbing all the hydrogen that is around. Thus, in a few billion years it will reach a peak. It is possible that the nearest star to the Earth will expand so much that it will absorb the inner planets, including ours.

No less interesting is the fact that the Sun is white, although in all people it is associated with a red or orange color. Studying the solar system, one can see spots on the star plasma. This is due to strong magnetic fields. It is believed that activity changes over the course of eleven years. When it is minimal, there are practically no spots on the sun. It is worth noting that the luminary emits wind and charged particles that fly around the entire cosmos, affecting the nearby planets. If the Earth had no magnetic field, then these elements could destroy us. This invisible barrier keeps us alive for several million years.

The closest star to Earth

The heavenly bodies and phenomena of people were always attracted. Many are interested in what star is closest to the Earth. Almost all researchers claim that this is the Sun, but there are other assumptions. According to some scientists, the most approximate star - the subgiant HD 140283 - is the very object that the researchers have been searching for so long. The age of the cosmic long-liver is 13.2 billion years.

But still many people tend to believe that the Sun is the closest star to the Earth. In fact, within a radius of 5 pc (16,308 over the year), there are many cosmic objects that are close to our planet. In all, 57 star systems are known today .

Feature HD 140283

So, according to some scientists, HD 140283 is the closest star to the Earth. Having studied it in more detail, they revealed that the cosmic long-liver belongs to the rare species of the light-giants. This group includes objects whose mass is higher than the main sequence stars, but below the major ones. The sub-gigant for today is from the Earth at a distance of 186 light years. The composition and features of HD 140283 make it possible to refer it to the second population, that is, to the group that unites the most ancient stars. Such luminaries are jokingly called objects that appeared in the youth of our universe.

Unfortunately, the oldest and nearest star to the Earth is slowly fading away, that is, it loses its brightness. Studying the star in more detail, scientists came to an extraordinary conclusion: the age of the object exceeded the time of existence of the whole universe.

There is such a thing as "Methuselah", which means "the biblical long-liver". HD 140283 claims this name. But at the moment the star is competing with another red dwarf, who may be her age or younger brother.

Thus, around our planet there are a lot of nearby stars that illuminate our earth at night, but do not rush to reveal to us the secrets of the cosmos. The sun has an exceptional role.