Coinciding with the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere, the International Day of the Sun is celebrated every year on June 21. In recognition of the King Star, without it, there would be no life on Earth. In that hemisphere, June 21 is the longest day of the year.
Every June 21 is the International Day of the Sun.
Since 2019, the United Nations Organization marked that day on the calendar as International Day of the Sun, and it represents the Solstice Celebration. The celebration was welcomed by environmental associations to raise awareness of renewable energies in which the sun is the protagonist.
Although the importance of the sun in our daily lives is fundamental. Nothing on the planet would be possible without sunlight. Plants need it for photosynthesis, animals need it to forage for food, humans need it to keep from freezing to death, among many other things. In other words, life on Earth would not be possible if the sun stopped rising every sunrise.
However, the sun offers us much more than light and food, it is also a source of clean and renewable energy. Something that is so necessary in the circumstances in which our planet finds itself with the threat of climate change, for which we humans are responsible.
More than interesting facts
The Sun is the closest star to Earth. It is about 149,600,000 kilometers away. Although that figure may seem astronomical, it takes only 8 minutes for sunlight to reach us. In addition, the sun is the center of our solar system, since both the Earth and the other planets orbit around it.
It is also responsible, along with our natural satellite, the Moon, for the tides. The Moon and the Sun, by their gravitational power, cause the sea to rise and fall cyclically.
The Sun is a star that, according to scientific calculations, is halfway through its life. A star has an estimated lifetime of about 10 billion years. Its core reaches a temperature of 15 million degrees Celsius. Although on the surface, the temperature is about 5500 degrees Celsius.
It is basically composed of hydrogen (74%), helium (24%) and 2% iron, nickel and oxygen, among other elements. The solar diameter is 1,392,000 kilometers, so it is almost 110 times larger than our planet. However, our Sun is one of the smallest stars in the Universe. There are others, such as VY Canis Majoris, which is 2000 times larger than the sun.
The Sun is a celebrity in different cultures
The Sun was celebrated by different cultures since ancient times. The Incas celebrated the Inti Raymi or festival of the sun in Quechua language. In the southern hemisphere, June 21 is the shortest day of the year and the Incas took it as the beginning of a new annual cycle.
The ancient Egyptians erected the great Pyramid of Giza by solar orientation. Thus, every June 21, at sunset, the light is framed between the pyramids of Cheops and Kephren. Also in the famous stones of Stonehenge, in England, every June 21, the sun’s rays pass through the megaliths directly on its central stone.
