I love the Sun. It is the heart of our solar system. Its gravity impacts every object nearby, holding it all together, in its orbit. It's working nonstop. Sun and Earth are interconnected - this affects the ocean currents, weather, climate, auroras. It can be very destructive. However, did you know that the Sun is also protecting us?

Now, let's start with the structure first. The Sun is mainly made of hydrogen and helium. Other gases present in Sun's structure are f.e. oxygen, carbon, iron, silicon...It consists of several layers:

the inner core - it's the hottest area with extreme pressure and density, the nuclear fusion takes place here

the radiative zone - the energy generated by the nuclear fusion in the core is diffused through the plasma to nearby area, therefore it's called radiative zone

the convective zone - the temperatures are relatively cooler in the convective zone compared to the radiative zone, therefore energy isn't transferred by thermal radiation but rather by thermal convection, this creates currents of heated and cooled gases which then brought to the surface in form of energy

the photosphere - it's the visible surface of the Sun, bright bubbling granules of plasma and sunspots are a part of it, this is also the source of solar flares

the chromosphere - this layer contains superheated hydrogen, which emits bloody glow, which can be seen during a total solar eclipse

the corona - it is a layer of ionized gas which extends millions of kilometers into space, it's size and shape is changing constantly because of Sun's magnetic field

Now, continuing with the activity of the Sun. There are a few phenomena associated with the Sun:

the sunspots - the darker regions located within the Sun's photosphere, they are darker because they are almost 1000 degrees cooler than the surrounding area, formed by concentrations of magnetic fields that block hot gases from rising up

the solar prominence - structures of superheated gas which are held on the surface of the Sun because of tangled magnetic field lines, they look like darker loops/rings marching up from the chromosphere which are cooler than the corona

the granulation - temporary patters on the photosphere formed by the currents of gases from the convective zone, hot plasma is contained within the centre of the granule which is then released into space where it cools and then flows back and sinks back down the photosphere

the coronal mass ejections - events, causing enormous eruptions of plasma and magnetic fields from Sun's corona, they are responsible for geomagnetic storms

the solar flares - sudden releases of electromagnetic radiation (corpuscular radiation), they are formed via stretched and twisted magnetic field lines and when they grow past the critical point they are blasted away into space, this released energy strongly influences the behaviour of solar wind located within the sunspots and could trigger atmospheric and enviromental disturbances, usually accompanied by coronal mass ejections

the solar wind - it is a stream of electrically charged particles (protons, electrons and alpha particles) which emerges from coronal holes, active regions or coronal streamers, as the particles travel through space they create what is known as plasma waves (I recommend listening to them), once they reach Earth, most of them are deflected because of Earth's strong magnetic field, but there is a minority which can still penetrate it and get through an opening near the poles, this alters with Earth's atmosphere which causes beautiful Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis in a display of colours (collision of particles and oxygen creates the color green and red, collision with nitrogen creates blue and purple)

This image is from the 4th February 2026. It shows a tremendous solar flare eruption of X-class, meaning a very intense energy outbreak that could trigger geomagnetic storms to occur or radio blackouts. We can also notice the solar prominence on the surface going along with the flare.

Fortunately, Earth has a very strong magnetosphere, which protects it from major disruptions caused by evens like this.

The activity of the Sun fluctuates because of the solar cycle. It is driven by the gas movement which impacts the magnetic field. The cycle repeats every 11 years and we can divide it into 2 states:

solar minimum : usually lasting for 4 years, the Sun is very calm without many sunspots or eruptions

solar maximum : usually lasting for 7 years, the magnetic field is in a chaotic tangled state with many sunspots, solar flares eruptions and coronal mass ejections

As for 24th May 2026, the Sun is in its declining phase, meaning fewer sunspots or solar flare eruptions. But that doesn't mean they cannot happen.

I'm really sorry for such a long intro into the topic, but I felt like this was pretty necessary to get started with. I still hope it was at least interesting for you. PS: I was kinda overfascinated yesterday at Peter Habaj's lecture about solar eclipses so that's why there's so much info...

It still feels unbelievable though, how small and incapable the Earth is compared to Sun. But Earth has something very unique the Sun never will - life That's what makes it special and extraordinary.