Hobbies And Interests
Power Output
The sun's power output is equivalent to 5 times 10 to the 23rd power, of horsepower, according to Louis Barbier of NASA, who indicates that the strength of the sun's power could melt a bridge of ice two miles wide and one inch thick, reaching from the earth to the sun, in one second. Eberhard Moebius of NASA calculated that the sun turns 4 million tons of mass into energy every second.
Power Source
The source of the sun's great power is the nuclear fusion that occurs in the sun, transforming hydrogen into helium. According to Discover Magazine, the sun converts 600 million tons of hydrogen fuel into helium and energy through nuclear fusion every second. This process occurs at the sun's core, and that output equals the amount of coal that is burned in the United States over a period of seven months.
Heat
The sun is approximately 10,000 degrees Fahrenheit on its surface, but that is one of its cooler spots. At the sun's core, the temperature can reach 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. Meanwhile, the sun's outer atmosphere, which is called the corona, can reach a temperature of two million degrees Fahrenheit. Solar flares are unusually hot spots on the sun's surface that can reach 10 million degrees Fahrenheit. The flares release electromagnetic energy so strong that it reaches earth's magnetic field and can disrupt satellite communications, according to the Associated Press.
Light
The sun's power manifests itself in the reach of its visibility, which extends well beyond the boundaries of its solar system. Its rays can reach 4.5 billion light years, according to David Hathaway, a NASA solar scientist, who noted for context that Pluto is located only three light hours from the sun. The sun's light takes about 8.32 light minutes to reach the earth, and it takes 2.36 million light years to reach the Andromeda galaxy, which is the most distant object you can see from earth with the naked eye, according to the Hayden Planetarium at the American Museum of Natural History.