• Question: How do scientists know the size of the sun

    Asked by jdoherty on 25 Nov 2020.
    • Photo: Marcello Valente

      Marcello Valente answered on 25 Nov 2020:


      Dear Jdoherty,
      by using the data from the probes we sent in the last 50 years and with some Euclidean geometry we were able to map the solar systems and therefore mesure the dimension of the Sun (always with a certain margin of error like in all scientific mesurements).

    • Photo: Danny Hnatyshin

      Danny Hnatyshin answered on 25 Nov 2020:


      One way we can figure out how heavy the sun is my watching the orbits of planets. The speed and distance planets orbit is related to the mass of the sun. There are other ways to measure it as well but that is just one example (essentially using gravity though).

      One way to measure the physical size of the sun can be estimated by knowing how far away the sun is and by looking at how big it is in the sky. As you get closer to the sun the sun will obviously look bigger. Using maths you can use that relationship to get its diameter.

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