What is the Sun made of?

The Sun is made of hot glowing gas. It shines because the gas is very hot. It is far away in the sky. It is much too hot to touch.

The Sun is mostly made of two gases called hydrogen and helium. Deep inside, the hydrogen is squeezed so hard that it changes into helium. That change gives off light and heat, so the Sun shines. It is like a giant glowing balloon, but much, much hotter than any balloon on Earth.

The Sun is mostly hydrogen, with lots of helium too. These are gases, but the Sun is so hot that they become plasma, a gas-like stuff where tiny pieces have split apart. In the Sun’s center, hydrogen is squeezed and heated until it joins together to make helium. This is called nuclear fusion, and it releases the light and heat we feel on Earth. Fun fact: every second, the Sun turns about 600 million tons of hydrogen into helium.