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}}The '''Sun''', also known by the name '''Sol''' (either from the Greek, ''helios'' or from the [[Latin]] word ''sol'') is a [[yellow dwarf]] [[star]] of [[spectral type]] [[G2V]]. The eight [[planet]]s, including Earth, orbit the Sun, as do countless other small objects.<ref name=Britannica/>

}}The '''Sun''', also known by the name '''Sol''' (either from the Greek, ''helios'' or from the [[Latin]] word ''sol'') is a [[Star|yellow dwarf star]] of spectral type G2V. The eight [[planet]]s, including Earth, orbit the Sun, as do countless other small objects.<ref name=Britannica/>

== Nomenclature ==

== Nomenclature ==

The Sun a classified as spectral class G2 V. The "G" means it is a moderately warm yellow star. The "2" means it is in the third hottest group of stars within type "G" (the scale runs from 0 to 9). The "V" is a Roman numeral for 5 and indicates the Sun's size. A size V star is a dwarf, main sequence star. Thus the Sun is a moderately warm, yellow, dwarf main sequence star. The Sun is in the 95th percentile in its class by size and mass of other stars in its immediate region.

The Sun a classified as spectral class G2 V. The "G" means it is a moderately warm yellow star. The "2" means it is in the third hottest group of stars within type "G" (the scale runs from 0 to 9). The "V" is a Roman numeral for 5 and indicates the Sun's size. A size V star is a dwarf, main sequence star. The Sun is in the 95th percentile in its class by size and mass of other stars in its immediate region.

== History ==

== History ==

=== Mythological ===

=== Mythological ===

In contrast, virtually every other civilization has regarded the Sun as one of many gods. The Egyptians called the Sun '''Ra''' or '''Re''', a deity whom, they said, created the world.<ref name=touregypt>Dunn, Jimmy. "[http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/re.htm Re (Ra) and Re-Horakhty]." <http://www.touregypt.net/>. Accessed March 5, 2008.</ref> The Egyptians also called the sun-disk '''Aten''', and for a brief period (during the reign of [[Pharaoh]] [[Amenhotep IV]] or '''Akhenaten'''), actually worshipped Aten as the one and only god of the universe.<ref name=touregypt2>Dunn, Jimmy. "[http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/aten.htm The Egyptian God Aten Before and After Akhenaten]." <http://www.touregypt.net/>. Accessed March 5, 2008.</ref> In [[Babylonia]] and [[Assyria]] the Sun was called '''Shamash''', a god who, because he could see everything happening on earth, was also associated with truth and justice.<ref name=MacKenzie>MacKenzie, Donald A. "[http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/mba/mba17.htm Chapter XI: The Golden Age of Babylonia]." ''Myths of Babylonia and Assyria'', IndyPublish.com (ISBN 1421962977), December 30, 2005, pp. 240-259. Accessed March 5, 2008, at <http://www.sacred-texts.com/></ref> The Greeks at first regarded ''Helios'' as a son of heaven and earth but later came to associate the Sun with their god of truth, '''Apollo'''. According to the [[Apache Creation Story]], [[Creator]], the One Who Lives Above, created the Sun by singing it into existence after he had created the Girl-Without-Parents.<ref>Welker, Glenn. "[http://www.indians.org/welker/creation.htm Apache Creation Story]" <Indians.org>, August 12, 2004. Accessed March 6, 2008.</ref>

In contrast, virtually every other civilization has regarded the Sun as one of many gods, a Position that is not hard to understand given it's intended role and it's prominence in the daytime sky. The Egyptians called the Sun '''Ra''' or '''Re''', a deity whom, they said, created the world.<ref name=touregypt>Dunn, Jimmy. "[http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/re.htm Re (Ra) and Re-Horakhty]." <http://www.touregypt.net/>. Accessed March 5, 2008.</ref> The Egyptians also called the sun-disk '''Aten''', and for a brief period (during the reign of [[Pharaoh]] [[Amenhotep IV]] or '''Akhenaten'''), actually worshipped Aten as the one and only god of the universe.<ref name=touregypt2>Dunn, Jimmy. "[http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/aten.htm The Egyptian God Aten Before and After Akhenaten]." <http://www.touregypt.net/>. Accessed March 5, 2008.</ref> In [[Babylonia]] and [[Assyria]] the Sun was called '''Shamash''', a god who, because he could see everything happening on earth, was also associated with truth and justice.<ref name=MacKenzie>MacKenzie, Donald A. "[http://www.sacred-texts.com/ane/mba/mba17.htm Chapter XI: The Golden Age of Babylonia]." ''Myths of Babylonia and Assyria'', IndyPublish.com (ISBN 1421962977), December 30, 2005, pp. 240-259. Accessed March 5, 2008, at <http://www.sacred-texts.com/></ref> The Greeks at first regarded ''Helios'' as a son of heaven and earth but later came to associate the Sun with their god of truth, '''Apollo'''. According to the [[Apache Creation Story]], [[Creator]], the One Who Lives Above, created the Sun by singing it into existence after he had created the Girl-Without-Parents.<ref>Welker, Glenn. "[http://www.indians.org/welker/creation.htm Apache Creation Story]" <Indians.org>, August 12, 2004. Accessed March 6, 2008.</ref>

The most common theme in all the Sun-worship cults is the association of the Sun with truth and justice personified. The second most common theme is the regarding of the Sun as the creator.

The most common theme in all the Sun-worship cults is the association of the Sun with truth and justice personified. The second most common theme is the regarding of the Sun as the creator.

=== Materialistic ===

=== Secular ===

According to the [[materialism|materialist]] and [[uniformitarianism|uniformitarian]] view, what eventually became the solar system initially existed as a large, rotating [[cloud]] of [[dust]] and [[gas]], composed of hydrogen and helium produced in the [[Big Bang theory|Big Bang]] as well as small amounts of heavier [[element]]s. Around 4.57 billion years ago, the cloud began to contract, perhaps as a result of a [[shock wave]] from a nearby [[supernova]]. [[Inertia]] caused the rotating cloud to flatten into a disk. Most of the mass concentrated in the middle, and began to heat up. Eventually, the kinetic energy of the hydrogen was sufficient to overcome the [[electromagnetic]] repulsion between the protons, and fusion began. The resulting solar wind helped clear away much of the material which had not coalesced into planets or other orbiting bodies.<ref>"[http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/cosmic_evolution/docs/text/text_plan_1.html Cosmic Evolution, Epoch 4: Planetary Evolution]." ''[http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/cosmic_evolution/docs/splash.html Cosmic Evolution: From Big Bang to Humankind]'', Wright Center, [[Tufts University]]. Accessed March 6, 2008.</ref> The Sun is most likely a third-generation star.

According to the [[materialism|materialist]] and [[uniformitarianism|uniformitarian]] view, what eventually became the solar system initially existed as a large, rotating [[cloud]] of [[dust]] and [[gas]], composed of hydrogen and helium produced in the [[Big Bang theory|Big Bang]] as well as small amounts of heavier [[element]]s. Around 4.57 billion years ago, the cloud began to contract, perhaps as a result of a [[shock wave]] from a nearby [[supernova]]. [[Inertia]] caused the rotating cloud to flatten into a disk. Most of the mass concentrated in the middle, and began to heat up. Eventually, the kinetic energy of the hydrogen was sufficient to overcome the [[electromagnetic]] repulsion between the protons, and fusion began. The resulting solar wind helped clear away much of the material which had not coalesced into planets or other orbiting bodies.<ref>"[http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/cosmic_evolution/docs/text/text_plan_1.html Cosmic Evolution, Epoch 4: Planetary Evolution]." ''[http://www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center/cosmic_evolution/docs/splash.html Cosmic Evolution: From Big Bang to Humankind]'', Wright Center, [[Tufts University]]. Accessed March 6, 2008.</ref> The Sun is most likely a third-generation star, meaning it is in the latest generation.

 

Eventually, in a few billion years the sun will have expended most of it's Hydrogen, causing the outer shell to push outward and cool, turning into a Red giant, and Helium begins to be fused into Carbon. At this stage, Venus and Mercury will have been consumed by the now Red-Giant star, and possibly earth as well. Once the helium has been fused into carbon, there will not be enough heat to continue fusion to even heavier elements (as in larger stars), the core will collapse and the outer shell will be pushed off and form a Planetary Nebula, with a White Dwarf, and eventually a Black Dwarf at it's heart. <ref>http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/teachers/lessons/xray_spectra/background-lifecycles.html</ref>

== Orbital characteristics and galactic relationships ==

== Orbital characteristics and galactic relationships ==