This week, we launched our miniseries on space, starting things off with the Sun. Before we start discussing the Sun, we talk UVA basketball and the NCAA tournament (thanks to everyone that created a bracket!!!). We begin generally, defining stars and galaxies. The light and heat from stars comes from nuclear fusion (which we do our best to describe). Then, we transition to describing different types of stars and what type of star our Sun is (yellow main sequence star). We discuss where stars come from (super cool gases condensing and collapsing on itself), which was best described in a University of Oregon astronomy class. We move on to stats about our own Sun - chemical composition, size, and energy - and then discuss our Sun’s cool magnetic fields. These magnetic fields are related to sunspots, which were first discovered in 800 BC. People are still doing active research about how these sunspots are formed. Sunspots can be used as a proxy to estimate solar weather.