Why is the sun hot?

That's a great question, Ida, and a question that a lot of people have asked themselves years after years.

I'm Miho, by the way, and I am a solar physicist, which means that I'm a scientist studying the sun, and I'm gonna try to answer your question.

The reason why the sun is hot is because of what happens at its core.

Imagine the sun being a big ball of energy, and this energy is created by tiny little bits of the sun colliding with each other at its center.

A little bit as if you had cars colliding with each other and creating kind of explosions.

That what creates the heat of the sun that is then transported to the edge of this giant ball.

A bit like if you were standing near a radiator, and if you approach your hand next to the radiator, you can feel the heat.

Now, the answer is not as simple as that, actually, and the reason is because we realized later in time that the atmosphere of the sun is also hot.

Yes, the sun has an atmosphere, a bit like the Earth, actually.

And unlike an oven or a radiator, the further away you are from the sun, the hotter it becomes.

This atmosphere becomes hotter.

This is very unlike our everyday experience.

Again, if you remove your hands from the radiator, you will see that it becomes colder.

The reason why the sun's atmosphere is so hot is actually a question that, uh, I am studying, and we don't have a clear answer right now.

We think that a lot of little explosions are happening in this atmosphere.

A lot of explosions that will give up some heat.

But that's something that we are currently researching, and I hope to give you a clearer answer in the future.