SUN

And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and waves roaring.

—Luke 21:25

6182 Explosions In Sun

The sun is like a vast hydrogen bomb burning slowly. Every second, 4 million tons of hydrogen are destroyed in explosions which start somewhere near the core, where the temperature is 13 million degrees Centigrade.

More energy than man has used since the dawn of civilization is radiated by this normal star in a second.

The earth’s entire oil, coal and wood reserves would fuel the sun’s energy output to the earth alone for only a few days.

Tongues of hydrogen flame leap from the sun’s surface with the force of 1000 million hydrogen bombs. They are forced up by the enormous thermonuclear explosion at the core of the sun where 564 million tons of hydrogen fuse to form helium. Material at the core of the sun is so hot that a pinhead of it would give off enough heat to kill a man 1 million miles away.

6183 E=MC²

It was known that there were such things as radioactive elements, and that they gave off energy as they changed to other elements. This came into favor with Einstein’s formula, E=mc², where E is the energy in ergs, m the mass in grams, and c the velocity of light in centimeters per second.

In this formula c equals approximately 3 x 10 10 cm/sec., or c² equals 9 x 10 20 or 9 followed by 20 zeros. Thus a small amount of mass produces a tremendous amount of energy.

This formula not only supposes that matter can be changed into energy, but shows the exact amount of energy produced by a given amount of mass. From this formula the astronomer computed that the sun must be losing about 4,200,000 tons of mass per second in producing the heat which it gives off. This explains the source of the tremendous amount of heat coming off the sun continuously.

6184 Heat Of Sun

In June 1946, the Sun sent out an arch of flame that soared above the Sun over ONE MILLION MILES, which is more than the diameter of the Sun! The power of the sun? The sun is a fantastically hot cosmic radiation powerhouse similar to the countless stars out in the vast unfathomable distances of space. Its surface temperature is 11,000°F and its interior temperature is estimated as high as 18,000,000°F. Imagine, if you can, a cake of ice one-and-one-half miles square and 93 million miles high. It would reach from earth to sun. Scientists tell us that this gigantic cake of ice would be completely melted in 30 seconds if the full power of the sun could be focused upon it!

6185 Sun’s Warmth

Our sun is 109 times the diameter of the earth. Of all the heavenly bodies, the sun is the most important to us here on earth. The temperature on the surface of the sun is about 11,000° Fahrenheit. It takes this light about 8–1/3 minutes to reach the earth… some 93 million miles away. Yet even from this distance all of us have experienced the warmth and brilliance of the sun. But its brightness is still so intense, we cannot look at it.

6186 Energy Of The Sun

The sun is a great powerplant. lf you were to mark off one square yard on the sun you would find that it is giving off 70,000 horsepower of energy continuously. There are a tremendous number of square yards on the sun’s surface: more than 10,000 times the number of square yards on the surface of the earth.

Suppose that we decide to buy the energy that the sun gives off for a period of twenty-four hours. Suppose we can buy this energy for one-fourth cent per kilowatt-hour. To pay for this energy in silver dollars would require enough money to cover the United States four miles deep.

This represents a tremendous amount of energy. Yet when God created the sun, He had to put into that act of creation all of the energy that has come from the sun and all that which may yet come from the sun. There is still enough energy in the sun to last for some thirty billion years.

6187 Nova And Supernova

Astronomers have observed star explosions, called novas, that make a hydrogen bomb blast seem like a firecracker. The celestial fireworks happen without warning. An apparently normal star suddenly increases in brightness thousands of times. The star remains intensely bright for a few weeks, reaches a peak of brilliance, then appears to burst. In time the star dims back to its former size. On rare occasions a star explodes with such force that it never recovers. Astronomers call this celestial catastrophe a supernova. A Northwestern University astronomer thinks there may have been 100 billion star explosions since the birth of our galaxy.

What about our own sun? When will it explode, shattering its planets into oblivion? Scientists say it will, if time continues to run one way. As the sun uses up its nuclear fuel its brightness will intensify and the earth’s atmosphere will warm slowly. The sun will swell, drawing the earth into its fiery maw. Then it will shrink by a series of small explosions, or blow itself into extinction in one giant blast.

—James C. Hefley

6188 Sunspots

Q. What is a sunspot?

A. It is a cold area on the surface of the sun that looks dark in contrast to the very bright surface of the sun. It’s actually about 4,000 degrees Celsius [centigrade scale], hotter than the melting temperature of any metal on earth. But it looks cold because the surrounding region is about 6,000 degrees Celsius.

Sunspots appear similar to hurricanes here on earth—they rotate like giant pinwheels. But unlike hurricanes, they come in pairs and have very strong magnetic fields associated with them.

They are one of the prime evidences of variable activity on the sun and they produce disturbances here on earth that range from the Northern Lights to interruption of radio transmissions.

In October 1957, a scientific sunspot count showed 263, the highest recorded index since records started in 1755 (cf. previous record of 239 in May 1778). In 1943 a sunspot lasted for 200 days from June to December.

6189 Sunlight Weight And Duration

Sunlight that falls on the earth has a weight averaging about 3 pounds per square mile.

The duration of sunshine in the various countries of Europe was recently discussed at a scientific meeting. It was shown that Spain stands at the head of the list, having on the average 3,000 hours of sunshine per year, while Italy has 2,300 hours. Germany comes next with 1,700 and England with 1,400.

—J. H. Bomberger

6190 Tax On Sunlight

In 17th century England and America, the government taxed fresh air and sunlight! A levy was made against all householders with eight or more windows.

6191 Houston’s Glaring Error

Old Rome had its Coliseum, Houston, Texas, has its Astro Dome. Costing $31.6 million, seating 48,000 people, this roofed wonder of the sports world was especially designed for baseball. There’s only one thing wrong. Magnificent Harris county’s Domed Stadium has a built-in glare so dazzling that you can’t play an afternoon game of ball in it. Outfielders can’t even see the ball much less catch it.

It is hard to believe that such a “glaring error” could be made in this age of scientific wonder.

6192 Norway’s Train Crash

In February 1975 Norway suffered its worst train wreck. Two passenger trains, carrying a total of about 900 passengers, collided outside the Tretten station, 130 miles north of Oslo. Twenty-seven persons were killed, and twenty-six seriously injured. In seeking an explanation for the accident, a railway official has suggested that the low southern sun, shining directly against the signal lights, may have been the cause. The brightness of the sun would have made the observation of the lights difficult.

6193 The Cave And The Sun

There is an allegory written for the little ones, but serviceable to the grown folks: Once upon a time a Cave lived under the ground, as caves have the habit of doing. It had spent its lifetime in darkness. It heard a voice calling to it, “Come up into the light; come and see the sunshine.” The Cave retorted, “I don’t know what you mean; there isn’t anything but darkness.” Finally the Cave ventured forth and was surprised to see light everywhere. Looking up to the Sun the Cave said, “Come with me and see the darkness.” The Sun asked, “What is darkness?” The Cave replied, “Come and see.” One day the Sun accepted the invitation. As it entered the cave it said, “Now show me your darkness!” But there was no darkness.

—Sunday School Times

6194 Reflections From Higher Mountain

I was crossing Lake Leman, or Lake Geneva. There was a beautiful sunset and I was busy watching that western panorama of color and beauty. The sun died down, the lights faded out of the western sky leaving it dark. Fifteen minutes had passed since the sun had disappeared from the western skies.

Suddenly my travelling friend, Dr. Rowsey, of Toledo, exclaimed: “Look over there in the east. What is that strange light?” I looked. For a few minutes I could not believe my eyes. For, there was old Mt. Blanc, with its three huge shoulders of snow being bombarded by the light of a sun that had gone down fifteen minutes before.

That old Giant was high enough so that the sun was still flooding it with glorious light; and its snow-crowned peaks, its vast glaciers, and cliffs were literally being bombarded with light from the sun.

—Selected

6195 Peter The Great’s Wonder

Peter the Great, when he saw sunrise, would express his wonder that men should be so stupid not to rise every morning to behold one of the most glorious sights in the universe. “They delight,” said he, “in gazing on a picture, the trifling work of a mortal, and at the same time neglect one painted by the hand of the Deity Himself. For my part,” added he, “I am for making my life as long as I can, and therefore sleep as little as possible.”

—Walter Baxendale

6196 Sunlight In His Will

In Manitwac, Wiconsin, John Cooper Smith, retired Chicago produce dealer, died. He left his widow an estate of fifty thousand dollars. He also made this bequest: “To my remaining relatives I give the sunshine, the birds and the bees, wherever the above- mentioned sunshine, birds and bees may be found.”

6197 Shadow That Saved Man’s Life

In a small Nebraska town a few years ago, a man on trial for dynamiting a house was freed through the calculations of two astronomers who had never met and had worked on the case independently. The only witnesses were two girls who testified they had seen the defendant near the house shortly before the explosion while they had been coming from church, a mile away. They produced as evidence a snapshot of themselves on its steps taken a moment before they left “at about 2:30.”

As a sun shadow was cast by one section of the church on another section, the astronomers were requested to estimate from its position when the picture had been taken. One came within 29 seconds and the other within 15 seconds of the actual time—21.5 minutes AFTER the explosion—which was determined from photographs taken in the same spot on the same day the following year.

—Freling Foster

6198 Epigram On Sun

•     Teacher: “Which is more important to us—the moon or the sun?”

Johnny: “The moon.”

Teacher: “Why?”

Johnny: “The moon gives us light at night when we need it. The sun gives us light only in the daytime when we don’t need it.”

—Eleanor Doan

See also: Heavenly Phenomenon ; Moon ; Stars ; Isa. 13:10; 24:23; Joel 2:31; Matt. 24:29; Mark 13:24; Rev. 6:12; 8:12; 9:2, 16:8.