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How to Make a Clay Sun

The sun is the star at the center of the solar system and all the other planets orbit around it. It is a main sequence star and is thought to be slightly over 4.5 billion years old. You can create a model of the sun using a Styrofoam ball as a support and using clay to replicate the surface texture of the star.

Things You'll Need

Large Styrofoam ball
Orange or dark yellow clay
Pen cap or eraser tip

Instructions

- 1
  Obtain a large Styrofoam ball with a diameter of about 3 inches.
- 2
  Knead some dark yellow or light orange clay to soften it.
- 3
  Place a piece of kneaded clay on a clean, flat surface and use a rolling pin to roll out the clay to a thickness of about 3/8 inch.
- 4
  Apply pieces of flattened clay to the ball until the entire surface is covered.
- 5
  Smooth the surface of the clay with your fingers. Make sure the ball of clay is round and there aren't large lumps of clay sticking out.
- 6
  
  The outer surface of the sun is not perfectly smooth.
  
  Make shallow impressions over the entire clay surface with a rounded pen cap or the tip of an eraser. Press lightly and overlap some of the impressions so the surface of the clay acquires a light texture that mimics the surface texture of the outer layer of the sun.

Astronomy