As you can see from the image above, our Sun, though a fairly small,
young star (compared to others in our galaxy - a mere 4.5 billion years old),
exponentially dwarfs even the largest of the Gas Giants in our solar system (Jupiter).
SOLAR FACTS
Our Sun is 93 million miles away from the Earth. A comfortable distance,
to say the least. Any closer to the Sun and no life could be possible...any
further away, and the same result would occur because Earth would be too cold.
Only in this "life zone" that we currently occupy is life possible, and even
then, ONLY because of the presence of the Moon! Earth
is the only one of the inner four planets to have a real moon; only the greater
(outer) planets have moons! In addition, the Sun is 400 times larger than the
Moon, and the Sun is also 400 times farther away, which is why they appear to be
exactly the same size during a total Solar Eclipse!!! If anyone can call this a
coincidence, it is indeed a very peculiar one.
Additionally, the Sun's
mass is 330,000 times that of the Earth. While the temperature at the surface of
the Sun is a relatively cool 9,932 degrees Farenheit, at the core you can expect
to find a sizzling 22.5 MILLION degrees Farenheit! The Sun puts out 390 billion
billion megawatts of luminosity, making it the brightest heavenly body around,
the next nearest star being 9.46 million million kilometers away. Lastly, its
diameter is 870,000 miles.
MYTHOLOGY
Raphael's Parnasus Apollo - Click to enlarge!
In Greek mythology, Apollo was the son of Zeus, (Jupiter)
and Letona. He was the god of the Sun, logic and reason, and he was also a fine
musician and healer. He was known as the god who could foretell the future. His
most sacred place was at Delphi, site of the Oracle of Delphi.
As an admirer of Apollo,
it is easy to see why I named my site after the Oracle of Delphi! In fact, this
site is dedicated to the healing arts, logic and reason, and the ability to
divine future possibilities.
During the Amarna period, Pharaoh Akhenaten, in an unparalleled move,
turned away from traditional polytheism, the worship of many gods, to
monotheism, the worship of only one, the Aten or Sun-Disk. He moved the
spiritual capital of Egypt to a small remote city named Akhetaten, "the horizon
of the Sun-Disk", where the Sun rose in a cradle between mountains, mimicking
the heiroglyphic symbol for horizon or "akhet." Above, the life-giving rays of
the Aten are depicted emanating on Akhenaten as he makes offerings to it, a
mutually beneficial relationship between Pharaoh and Deity, to be sure. There
were no other gods whatsoever.
The Aten was considered a model for the eternal cycle of death and
rebirth which the Egyptians embraced, wherein the Aten or Sun was born each
morning and "died" every sunset, when it was said to go through the perils of
the underworld, fighting the dark forces which govern the underworld,
re-emerging victoriously the next morning, when it was re-born. So too was
Pharaoh re-born after becoming Osiris, lord of the dead, to become Horus, lord
of the living. The Egyptians believed gold to be the flesh of the Sun on Earth,
and as such it was highly prized and used to cover everything in the Pharaoh's
tomb so that his re-birth was assured. Since gold does not tarnish or corrupt in
any manner, and due to its light-reflecting splendour, it is easy to imagine why
this metal was so revered, and still is today.
This page is currently under construction. Please come again in the near
future to learn more about our Sun, the biggest star
around!
Return to Our Solar System
Comments? Suggestions? Strange ideas? Ancient secrets?
Since June, 1997!
Last Updated on 11/24/00
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