Basic
Solar Properties

Basic Solar Properties
Diameter (photosphere) 1,391,980 km
Mass 1.99 x 1033 g
Average Density 1.41 g/cm3
Luminosity 3.83 x 1033 erg/sec
Rotation Period 25 days (equator)
Surface Temperature 5,800 K (effective)
Spectral Class G2 V
Apparent Visual Magnitude - 26.7
Absolute Visual Magnitude + 4.8
Mean Distance (Earth) 149,597,892 km

Some basic solar properties are summarized in the table to the right. Some of the quantities given there will be defined in subsequent chapters, but we include the values here for a convenient reference.

The following list contains some basic Web references for solar information:

Many of these sites provide updates on solar information and images on a daily or even more timely basis. Thus, they allow almost real-time monitoring of the Sun for anyone with Web access.

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