Happy May Ray Day!
May 19, 2011 May 19th is May Ray Day, designed to celebrate the beginning of warm days outside that the sun provides - unless you live near Lake Superior of course. I didn't know such a celebratory day existed until now so to celebrate I found some facts about the sun.
1. The sun is orbited by nine major planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto (no longer an official planet).
2. The sun contains 99.85% of the mass in the solar system.
3. Classified as a G2 dwarf due to its size, heat, and chemical makeup, the sun is a medium-sized star. A G star is cool (between 5,000-6,000 on the Kelvin temperature scale) and has a complex chemistry, which means its makeup includes chemicals heavier than helium.
4. Based on the average life of a G2 star, the present age of the sun is estimated to be 4.6 billion years, halfway through its lifetime.