Today is the International Day of the Sun – our closest star – Agro Plovdiv – 2024-05-03 10:35:00

In many countries around the world, various initiatives are starting today on the occasion of the International Day of the Sun, which aims to draw attention to the importance of solar energy and its potential for sustainable development.

The International Day of the Sun aims to draw attention to the importance of solar energy and its potential for sustainable development.

Since ancient times, people have worshiped the Sun as a symbol of energy, light and life.

However, the first official Day of the Sun was celebrated on May 3, 1978. Its creation was proposed by the American ecoactivist Dennis Hayes, who became known as the first coordinator of Earth Day. It’s his idea to have a solar powered event similar to Earth Day.

The US Congress enthusiastically approved the idea with a resolution and the then President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, declared the Day of the Sun a public holiday.

The decision is related to the growing ecological movement and the search for alternative energy sources.

In 1994, the event became international, when it was celebrated by 22 countries.

Solar energy is one of the safest and most environmentally friendly energy sources and does not pollute the environment like fossil fuels, experts remind.

The Sun is our home star – a star that is immeasurably closer to Earth than any other. The next closest to us, for example, the star Proxima of the Alpha Centauri system, is 4.22 light years away, and to reach it one day, moving at the speed of light, we will need a full 4 years.

For the Earth, the Sun is irreplaceable, inexhaustible and a huge source of energy. It gives us the light and heat that all living things on the planet need, forms and directly affects important properties of the Earth’s atmosphere.

In general, the Sun defines the entire ecosystem of the planet. Without it, the air we need to live would not exist – the air would become an ocean of liquid nitrogen, covering the frozen waters of the oceans and the frozen land. For us, the Sun is of inestimable value – without it, life simply would not have arisen on Earth.

The sun, wind, sea waves and biomass are energy resources that are constantly abundant around us and available for use. We don’t have to dig them up from the depths. They do not lead to the accumulation of radioactive or toxic waste. We call them renewable energy sources.

In order to draw attention to the possibilities of using renewable energy sources, the European part of the International Solar Energy Community (ISES-Europe), starting from 1994, on a voluntary basis, organizes every year the celebration of May 3 as Day of the Sun.

Enthusiasts and professionals, public organizations and companies specialized in solar technologies all over Europe organize a variety of events related to the demonstration of the possibilities offered by solar energy.

Here are some interesting facts about the Sun:

1. The pressure in its center is over 340 billion atmospheres, the temperature – 13 million °C. Under such conditions, a thermonuclear reaction takes place in which hydrogen is converted into helium. Analogous processes take place during the explosion of a hydrogen bomb.

2. Every second the Sun burns 700 billion tons of hydrogen. About 3,000 explosions occur on the Sun every second, each lasting a few minutes and covering regions the size of the Earth.

3. When hydrogen turns into helium, some of the mass of the substance is converted into energy that heats the nearest star.

5. The sun is white, not yellow. Its color is closer to white, with a bluish tint. However, most of us perceive its light as yellow, which gives rise to many disputes and theories about the structure of the human psyche and vision. There are many reasons for the phenomenon. The atmosphere strongly scatters the sun’s rays (that’s why the sky looks blue to us), as a result of which the color of the Sun changes depending on its height above the horizon – from white to orange and red. The contrast with the blue sky, the filtration of light in the atmosphere, the effect of the residual yellow glow on the retina under the influence of bright white light, etc., also play a role in the perception of colors by the human eye.