The Sun, our closest star, is a hot, glowing ball of

gas that provides light and heat to the Earth. It's approximately 93 million miles away from Earth. The Sun's gravity holds our entire solar system together. The Sun's surface is very hot, and its atmosphere is even hotter. The Sun's core is the hottest part of all, at a sizzling 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. Our Sun is about 100 times wider than Earth. It's currently in a stage called yellow dwarf and is about 4.5 billion years old. In another 5 billion years, the Sun will become a big, cool star called a red giant. The Sun contains almost all of the material in our solar system, 99% of it. All the planets, asteroids, and comets add up to less than 1% of the total.