The Sun
The Sun is currently in the constellation of Capricornus. The current Right Ascension of The Sun is 20h 15m 08s and the Declination is -19° 48’ 55” (topocentric coordinates computed for the selected location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]). The current magnitude of The Sun is -26.78 (JPL).
Summary of key facts about The Sun [tip: you can also create a Quick Access page for this data if you access it frequently and would like to have a simpler view]:
- Sun is above the horizon from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change].
- It is visible looking in the South-West direction at an altitude of 4° above the horizon.
- See also Sun rise and set times.
- Go to interactive sky chart
If you need to access this information frequently for your observations, you can create a simple customized Quick Access page, so that you can easily bookmark it in your browser favorites or add a shortcut to your mobile phones' home screen.
Additional information about The Sun available on TheSkyLive:
Are There Sunspots Today?
Here is a recent image of the Sun's surface showing the current sunspot activity:
The Sun Position and Finder Charts
Below we provide The Sun finder charts showing where the object is right now in the sky with respect to the brightest stars. The first finder chart has a field of view of 50 degrees, while the second one has a field of view of 10 degrees. Click on each finder chart to access a full screen interactive Online Planetarium.
Higher precision deep sky finder chart, 60 arcmin wide, showing where The Sun is right now. Click on the image to see a more detailed fullscreen tracker view.
Also check out Where is The Sun?, a page that provides all the information needed to find The Sun in the sky and additional links to sky charts.
The Sun Distance from Earth
The distance of The Sun from Earth is currently 147,221,155 kilometers, equivalent to 0.984113 Astronomical Units. Light takes 8 minutes and 11.0769 seconds to travel from The Sun and arrive to us.
The following chart shows the distance of The Sun from Earth as a function of time. In the chart the distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with an interval of 1 day.
The value of the reported distance might be somewhat inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of Sun from Earth is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Closest approach of The Sun to Earth
Between January 1900 and January 2100, the closest approach of The Sun to Earth happens on Thu Jan 3 1901 at a distance of 0.983192 Astronomical Units, or 147,083,358 kilometers:
NOTE: values for the closest approach are computed with a sampling interval of 1 day.
The Sun brightness
The current visual magnitude of The Sun is -26.78.
The following chart is the predicted light curve (visual magnitude as a function of time) of The Sun, according to the most recent ephemerides data. Magnitude data is sampled with a 2 days interval and there might be inaccuracies for objects changing brightness very rapidly during the course of a few days. For comets there could be large discrepancies between the observed and predicted brightness because of their highly dynamic behaviour.
The Sun rise and set times
Location: Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]
Latitude: 51° 28’ 47” N
Longitude: 0° 00’ 00” E
Timezone: Europe/London
Today's The Sun rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change] are the following (all times relative to the local timezone Europe/London):
The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of The Sun touches the horizon, considering the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmospheric conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.
The Sun Physical Data
The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of The Sun. Source: JPL Small-Body Database
| Physical Parameter | Value | Relative to Earth |
|---|---|---|
| Diameter | 1391684 km | 109.2202 |
| Mass | 1989000 x 1024 kg | 333,043.6574 |
| Density | 1.41 gr/cm3 | 0.2557 |
| Escape Velocity | 618.02 km/s | 55.2297 |
| Sideral Rotation | 587.2800 hours | 24.5370 |
| Absolute Magnitude | -26.8 |
The Sun 15 Days Ephemeris
The following table lists the ephemerides of The Sun computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval. Click on each row of the table to locate The Sun in our Online Planetarium at the chosen date.
| Date | Right AscensionR.A. | DeclinationDec. | MagnitudeMag | Apparent DiameterDiameter | Constellation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 Jan 14 | 19h 42m 28s | -21° 21’ 00” | -26.78 | 1,950.9” | Sagittarius |
| 2021 Jan 15 | 19h 46m 45s | -21° 10’ 15” | -26.78 | 1,950.8” | Sagittarius |
| 2021 Jan 16 | 19h 51m 03s | -20° 59’ 08” | -26.78 | 1,950.6” | Sagittarius |
| 2021 Jan 17 | 19h 55m 20s | -20° 47’ 38” | -26.78 | 1,950.5” | Sagittarius |
| 2021 Jan 18 | 19h 59m 36s | -20° 35’ 41” | -26.78 | 1,950.4” | Sagittarius |
| 2021 Jan 19 | 20h 03m 51s | -20° 23’ 24” | -26.78 | 1,950.2” | Sagittarius |
| 2021 Jan 20 | 20h 08m 07s | -20° 10’ 41” | -26.78 | 1,950.1” | Capricornus |
| 2021 Jan 21 | 20h 12m 20s | -19° 57’ 38” | -26.78 | 1,949.9” | Capricornus |
| 2021 Jan 22 | 20h 16m 35s | -19° 44’ 11” | -26.78 | 1,949.8” | Capricornus |
| 2021 Jan 23 | 20h 20m 47s | -19° 30’ 21” | -26.78 | 1,949.6” | Capricornus |
| 2021 Jan 24 | 20h 24m 59s | -19° 16’ 11” | -26.78 | 1,949.4” | Capricornus |
| 2021 Jan 25 | 20h 29m 09s | -19° 01’ 40” | -26.78 | 1,949.2” | Capricornus |
| 2021 Jan 26 | 20h 33m 20s | -18° 46’ 48” | -26.78 | 1,949.0” | Capricornus |
| 2021 Jan 27 | 20h 37m 28s | -18° 31’ 35” | -26.78 | 1,948.8” | Capricornus |