• Question: Since fire needs oxygen to help it egnite and keep a flame and there is no oxygen in space, how is the sun able to keep burning without the oxygen as fuel?

    Asked by anon-181143 on 5 Jun 2018.
    • Photo: Claudia Bonfio

      Claudia Bonfio answered on 5 Jun 2018:

      For at least a portion of its life, a star like our Sun shines due to a chemical reaction (hydrogen fusion into helium) occurring in its core, releasing energy that radiates into outer space. This means that the Sun emits “light” (UV, visible and infrared radiation), similar to what happens when you switch on a lamp in a dark room, rather then having a huge campfire in the sky =)

    • Photo: Joanne Sharpe

      Joanne Sharpe answered on 6 Jun 2018:

      Great question! You’re right, there is no oxygen available for the sun to burn, but the sun isn’t actually on fire – though it does look that way. It is actually undergoing “nuclear fusion” at its core, where it creates helium from hydrogen. This releases a massive amount of energy in the form of light and heat!

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