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Article: Solar energy.
- Article from:
- Science Weekly
- Article date:
- March 27, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Science Weekly, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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What Is Solar Energy?
The Sun is a star, the center of our solar system (so-lar sys-tem). The Sun appears larger than other stars because it is closest to Earth. The distance between Earth and the Sun is about 150 million kilometers.
Like other stars, the Sun is made of boiling gases called hydrogen (hy-dro-gen) and helium (he-li-um). The gases are so hot, they make the Sun glow. The temperature at the center of the Sun, or the core, is 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. The Sun's energy or solar energy (so-lar en-er-gy) comes from deep inside its core.
The scorching heat causes constant movement of hydrogen atoms. Some of the atoms (at-ores) stick ...