Solar radius
Imagine the Sun as a big shiny ball in the sky, like a giant yellow basketball. The size of the Sun isn't measured in feet or meters, like we use to measure things on Earth. Instead, we use something called "solar radius."
A solar radius is basically how big the Sun is compared to other stars, and scientists have agreed to use one as a standard measurement. One solar radius is equal to the distance from the center of the Sun to its edge, or what we call the "photosphere."
If you could draw a line from the center of the Sun to its edge, that would be one solar radius. It's like drawing a big circle around the Sun to determine how wide it is.
So when people say the Sun is "93 million miles away," they're using a different kind of measurement called distance. But when scientists talk about the size of the Sun, they use solar radius as a way to compare it to other stars. And for the record, the Sun's radius is about 432,450 miles!
A solar radius is basically how big the Sun is compared to other stars, and scientists have agreed to use one as a standard measurement. One solar radius is equal to the distance from the center of the Sun to its edge, or what we call the "photosphere."
If you could draw a line from the center of the Sun to its edge, that would be one solar radius. It's like drawing a big circle around the Sun to determine how wide it is.
So when people say the Sun is "93 million miles away," they're using a different kind of measurement called distance. But when scientists talk about the size of the Sun, they use solar radius as a way to compare it to other stars. And for the record, the Sun's radius is about 432,450 miles!
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