The Sun
The Sun Sky Charts and Coordinates
This is a simplified sky chart, showing where The Sun is now with respect to the brightest stars and constellations.
More advanced sky charts are available on TheSkyLive for this object: 1) the Online Planetarium which is interactive and allows to select dates and additional objects to visualize; and 2) the Live Position and Data Tracker which provides the highest precision position data and features deep sky imagery from the Digitized Sky Survey.
High Precision Live Sky Chart
The Sun Rise and Set Times
Today's The Sun rise, transit and set times from Greenwich, United Kingdom [change]. All times are relative to the Europe/London timezone.
The rise and set times are defined as the time at which the upper limb of The Sun touches the horizon, consideting the effect of the atmospheric refraction. As the atmoshpere conditions cannot be modeled precisely the times reported here should be considered correct with an approximation of few minutes.
Sunspots Today
The Sun 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 Dec 04 | 16h 39m 53s | -22° 09’ 38” | -26.77 | 1,946.7” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Dec 05 | 16h 44m 15s | -22° 17’ 43” | -26.77 | 1,947.0” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Dec 06 | 16h 48m 35s | -22° 25’ 22” | -26.77 | 1,947.3” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Dec 07 | 16h 52m 58s | -22° 32’ 34” | -26.77 | 1,947.6” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Dec 08 | 16h 57m 20s | -22° 39’ 20” | -26.77 | 1,947.8” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Dec 09 | 17h 01m 44s | -22° 45’ 39” | -26.77 | 1,948.1” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Dec 10 | 17h 06m 06s | -22° 51’ 32” | -26.78 | 1,948.3” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Dec 11 | 17h 10m 31s | -22° 56’ 57” | -26.78 | 1,948.6” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Dec 12 | 17h 14m 54s | -23° 01’ 55” | -26.78 | 1,948.8” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Dec 13 | 17h 19m 18s | -23° 06’ 27” | -26.78 | 1,949.1” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Dec 14 | 17h 23m 44s | -23° 10’ 30” | -26.78 | 1,949.3” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Dec 15 | 17h 28m 09s | -23° 14’ 05” | -26.78 | 1,949.5” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Dec 16 | 17h 32m 35s | -23° 17’ 13” | -26.78 | 1,949.7” | Ophiucus |
| 2018 Dec 17 | 17h 37m 00s | -23° 19’ 54” | -26.78 | 1,949.9” | Ophiucus |
Distance of The Sun from Earth
The following chart shows the distance of The Sun from Earth as a function of time. Distance data is measured in Astronomical Units and sampled with a 2 days interval.
The reported distances might be inaccurate around the times of closest approach for objects passing extremely close to Earth. The value of the distance of Sun is also available as a real time updated value in the Live Position and Data Tracker.
Light Curve of The Sun
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 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 | |