INTRODUCTION PEOPLE LOVE TO MAKE LISTS OF THE BIGGEST AND THE BEST ALMOST TWENTY-FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AGO A GREEK WRITER NAMED HERODOTUS MADE A LIST OF THE MOST AWESOME THINGS EVER BUILT BY PEOPLE THE LIST INCLUDED BUILDINGS STATUES AND OTHER OBJECTS THAT WERE LARGE WONDROUS AND IMPRESSIVE LATER OTHER WRITERS ADDED NEW ITEMS TO THE LIST WRITERS EVENTUALLY AGREED ON A FINAL LIST IT WAS CALLED THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE ANCIENT WORLD The list became so famous that people began imitating it They made other lists of wonders They listed the Seven Wonders of the Modern World and the Seven Wonders of the Middle Ages People also made lists of wonders of science and technology BEYOND EARTH But Earth is not the only place with wonders The Sun has many wonders too The Sun is a star Like most stars the Sun is a gigantic ball of hot burning gases The Sun’s gases blaze with brilliant light Without the Sun’s light and heat no life could exist on Earth Our planet would be a cold lifeless world The Sun is the center of our solar system Planets moons and other objects in the solar system orbit or travel around the Sun Smaller objects such as comets and asteroids orbit the Sun too Our solar system is part of the Milky Way galaxy A galaxy is a huge collection of stars dust and gas Up close the Sun is a violent stormy place Its hot gases constantly bubble and spin Sometimes huge explosions erupt from the Sun 4
Millions of stars from the Milky Way galaxy dot the skies above Earth Our solar system is part of this galaxy one of billions in the universe Find out what makes our night sky so bright and what else might be lurking out there Some scientists study the Sun and its stormy weather Scientists who study the Sun and other objects in space are called astronomers Far beyond the Sun and the solar system are billions and billions of other stars For centuries people have marveled at these faraway stars at night What incredible wonders might these stars have to show us EXPLORING THE SUN AND OTHER STARS This book explores seven wonders of the Sun and other stars Our tour begins with the Sun our local star We’ll learn about amazing solar flares violent explosions on the Sun Next we’ll watch our Moon block the Sun’s light creating an awesome solar eclipse We’ll leave the solar system to visit nebulas where new stars are born Next we’ll explore supergiant stars the largest stars in the universe We’ll also visit neutron stars the smallest and strangest stars in the universe The last wonders on our tour are black holes But don’t get too close you might get pulled inside and disappear Read on to start your tour of these wonders of space 5
1 SOLAR Storms The Sun is the star at the center of our solar system The Sun’s powerful energy warms Earth and gives us light
IN OCTOBER 2003 A HUGE SOLAR FLARE EXPLODED FROM THE SUN ITS TONGUES OF BURNING GAS LEAPED THOUSANDS OF MILES INTO SPACE THE FLARE’S EXPLOSION PRODUCED MORE POWER THAN TEN MILLION HYDROGEN BOMBS IT WAS THE SUN’S MOST POWERFUL EXPLOSION IN THIRTY YEARS When the flare exploded it sent an enormous cloud blasting out into space The cloud contained billions of electrically charged particles It also contained powerful waves of radiation a kind of energy In less than a day the cloud slammed into Earth’s magnetic field The field is a set of invisible lines around Earth where magnetism can be felt Magnetism is a force that pulls objects together or pushes them away from one another This computer-generated image shows a solar flare left exploding out toward Earth right Earth’s magnetic field is shown in blue Energy from a solar flare can disturb Earth’s magnetic field disrupting electrical and communication systems on Earth 7
