# How can the sun, burn. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 1, 2013, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537 "2013-04-01T15:41:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/41 "2013-04-02T21:38:17Z")
> [@XT](#): > > It doesn’t burn. It’s essentially a big ball of gas that is undergoing nuclear fusion…so, it’s not burning the hydrogen, it’s fusing hydrogen into (IIRC) helium, and in the process releasing immense energy in the form of heat and light (and some other stuff). Nitpick: it’s a ball of plasma, not gas. Which makes the TMBG lyrics not only superior in rhyme but also in reason. ---
**Author:** ![Kenm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc79bd/32.png) [@Kenm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kenm)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/42 "2013-04-04T01:49:07Z")
> [@Dervorin](#): > > Oh yeah? Then explain how it burns at _night_, wise guy! Dark matter! I mean, \*really, \*Dervorin. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/43 "2013-04-04T03:24:23Z")
> [@Incubus](#): > > Assuming I was immune to the heat and radiation, could I walk on the sun? Would the photosphere (surface?) Have a texture? Like glowy oatmeal? How much would I weigh on the sun? There is no _surface_…any more than our atmosphere has a surface. It’s just particles getting denser and denser, all the way down. ---
**Author:** ![Jfitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jfitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jfitz)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/44 "2013-04-04T03:40:59Z")
> [@XT](#): > > I went with the Pumba gambit… The Pumbaa Gambit Name of my next Folk-core band. ---
**Author:** ![Derc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dfb087/32.png) [@Derc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derc)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/45 "2013-04-04T18:51:16Z")
> [@JBDivmstr](#): > > 42… > > Oh… He’s gonna fit right in! 😃 > > Welcome to the SDMB, **Derc**! Thanks for the welcome **JB** , I’ve learned so much in a short space of time, distance and shielding, which coincidentally are the factors to be considered to reduce the effect of the sun’s radiated heat on our skin. I should have mentioned that originally, tee hee. Sunburn. I was corrected, quite rightly, it wasn’t Montypythagorus, but Hitchikers guide and the 42 meanings of liff, (sic) as we know it. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/46 "2013-04-04T23:04:45Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > There is no _surface_…any more than our atmosphere has a surface. It’s just particles getting denser and denser, all the way down. Yes and no… There are some very distinct “pauses” or discontinuities in the density gradient. Some of these are actually quite “sharp.” Look at a nice fluffy cumulus cloud: sure, up real close, it’s foggy and misty at its boundary, but from a mile away, it looks so sharp and crisp, it almost seems to be solid. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/47 "2013-04-04T23:08:53Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Yes and no… There are some very distinct “pauses” or discontinuities in the density gradient. Some of these are actually quite “sharp.” > > Look at a nice fluffy cumulus cloud: sure, up real close, it’s foggy and misty at its boundary, but from a mile away, it looks so sharp and crisp, it almost seems to be solid. It’s all a matter of perspective (like so many things). Over what range would the density change by 50%? A hundred miles? A thousand? ---
**Author:** ![yoyodyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a9a28c/32.png) [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2013, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537/48 "2013-04-04T23:47:00Z")
Because, my dawg. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-the-sun-burn/654537.md?page=2)