What is the sun made of? The children's question simply answered

Children are not the only ones wondering what the sun is made of. It is the center of our planetary system and the brightest star in the sky. You can find out here why it can shine so brightly and what its components are.

What the sun is made of: A mixture of gas and metals

The sun is made up of many different elements. These primarily include hydrogen and helium. But also some metals and other gases belong to the components.

• Essentially, the sun consists of around 70 percent hydrogen and 23 percent helium.
• About two percent of it is made of metals.
• The remaining five percent are made up of carbon, oxygen, neon and nitrogen.
• The sun converts hydrogen into helium through nuclear fusion. This reaction creates the radiation that we perceive as light.

This is how the components of the sun's surface are composed

Incidentally, the distribution of the components on the surface of the sun is different than in the core. The composition in the so-called photosphere looks like this:

• Hydrogen: 92.1 percent
• Helium: 7.8 percent
• Oxygen: 0.05 percent
• Carbon: 0.023 percent
• Neon: 0.01 percent
• Nitrogen: 0.007 percent

Spectacular time-lapse footage of the sun

If you would like to take a photo of a beautiful sunset, we will give you tips and tricks for taking pictures of the sun in another article.