The Sun is our closest star, often referred to as Sol.
The Sun is a massive ball of burning gas, fed by constant explosions. Without it, the earth would not survive. The Sun is about 5 billion years old and although it burns 4 million tonnes of fuel every second, it is so big it will burn for another 5 billion years.
Hotspots are where the sun surface is hotter than anywhere else, appearing white on the surface. Cooler areas are called sunspots and often appear darker.
Solar flares are blasts of hot gas. They appear in loops or arcs and reach 1000s of km into space.
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Sun and the Earth. By doing this the moon stops some of the Sun’ light from reaching the earth, the resulting shadow meaning that temporarily day turns to night in certain places, where the shadow is cast.