Sun as a star

the Sun and the Earth

comparing the size of the Sun to Earth

the Sun and the Earth

The Sun is about 150 million kilometres from the Earth. We can't give an exact value (unless we know the date and time) because the path followed by the Earth around the Sun isn't a circle, it's a 'squashed circle', which is called an ellipse. This means that the distance between the Earth and the Sun changes. The Earth is closest to the Sun on January 4th (147 million kilometres) and furthest from the Sun on July 4th (152 million kilometres).

You can check up on the details of how the distance to the Sun was first measured in the Factary.

The Earth is the third planet from the Sun.
None of the nine planets in the solar system orbits the Sun in a circle. Their orbits are elliptical - like a slightly squashed circle shape.


	Image Credit: Dr Russell Cockman, April 2002


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