Sun, the solar system's only star

Introduction

Stars are born. They take shape. They go through a turbulent adolescence, and then they live out their lives in a predictable pattern. Some have companions to provide for. Others rapidly decline and die. In some ways, stars are just like people.

Our star, the Sun, is no exception. Once, people regarded it as a different sort of object than the stars. It ruled the day; stars adorned the night. But over the past few centuries astronomers have come to recognise that it is just one middle-aged member of the vast family of stars. From far away, the Sun would look just like any other star - a point of light. Like any other star it is mortal. The realisation that the Sun is a star has done wonders for astronomy. By studying the closest star, scientists have learned about all stars. Conversely, by studying the stars in all their variety, we have learned about the past and future of our Sun.