This article is about the governing star of the Sol system. For the system itself, click here.
Sol, also referred to as the Sun, is the gravitational parent and central star of the Sol system. It is a nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, with internal convective motion that generates a magnetic field via a dynamo process.
It is by far the most important source of energy for life on Earth. Its diameter is about 109 times that of Earth, and its mass is about 330,000 times that of Earth, accounting for about 99.86% of the total mass of the Sol system.
About three quarters of Sol's mass consists of hydrogen; the rest is mostly helium, with much smaller quantities of heavier elements, including oxygen, carbon, neon, and iron.
History
Sol has been an object of veneration in many cultures throughout human history. Humanity's most fundamental understanding of Sol is as the luminous disk in the sky, whose presence above the horizon creates day and whose absence causes night.
In many prehistoric and ancient cultures, Sol was thought to be a solar deity or other supernatural entity. Worship of Sol was central to civilizations such as the ancient Egyptians, the Inca of South America and the Aztecs of what is now Mexico. Many ancient monuments were constructed with solar phenomena in mind.
