The sun has visual magnitude -26 and is the only star we can see as an extended light source. The sun has a faint corona, due to ionized gas, which reaches out from the sun many solar diameters. The charged particles (ions, protons and electrons) stream out into space, and are responsible for the solar wind. The surface temperature of the sun is a little over 6000 degrees centigrade, while the temperature of the corona is much higher, up to several million degrees.

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