The Sun Hides Really Well At Night

For a big star in space

Sometimes at night, I love to look at the moon and marvel at its light.

Some nights, the moon looks like you can take one long jump and land on it with how close to Earth it looks sometimes. Other nights, it’s far away in space.

Yesterday, around 12 am, the moon caught my eye with how bright and beautiful it was through my window.

After staring at it for a minute, I would take my eyes off of it for a few minutes, then look at it again. The second time I looked at it, I noticed that it was in a new spot in the sky.

It was so intriguing to me how the moon was moving in space, or maybe it was Earth that was moving. Then my mind really started to wonder about space. The next thing that came to my mind was the big bright sun.

According to NASA Solar System Exploration:

The Sun is the largest object in our solar system. Its diameter is about 865,000 miles (1.4 million kilometers). Its gravity holds the solar system together, keeping everything from the biggest planets to the smallest bits of debris in orbit around it.

As big and bright as the sun is, where could it be hiding during nighttime and in the early morning?

Planet Facts had a few facts that helped answer that question:

At night, the Sun does not go anywhere. Day or night, it stays put at the center of the solar system where it has always been, and will be for the next few billion years.

What makes the Sun seemingly disappear at night is the Earth’s rotation or turning motion.

While the Sun continuously shines on the Earth, it cannot provide sunlight to all parts of the world at the same time.

Whichever part of the world is facing the Sun, daytime is experienced. For the rest of the world, it is night.

It’s incredible how one side of the world gets sunlight, while the other side sees the moon and stars surrounded by a dark sky, unless the sky is cloudy and stormy, then it’s just darkness all around.

How the solar system is set up is remarkable to me. The planets, the stars, aliens, etc. The more I think about it, the more that thought sinks in that us & Earth is just a small piece of a big puzzle.

But that thought doesn’t last long. Eventually, like many people, I get lost in living life on Earth and forget about everything else in the solar system until space sends a sign that makes me pay attention again.