Dad! How many suns are there in the sky?

Ashok Silwal

The afternoon was ending, already the light was getting weaker, the colors more tenuous. We were in the countryside. We went out onto the terrace; ‘we’ means me and my little one in my arms. We were both fascinated by the immensely magnificent spectacle that was offered to us. The hills ahead were dark gray but, in the distance, a pink streak illuminated the Himalayan mountain range. The sun has already set. There was just this streak of light that lit up the peaks. My little son’s eyes were fixed on this light, a little amazed, a little scared.

Without taking his eyes off the mountains, he asked me: ‘Dad! Why are only the mountains pink?’

I answered very simply: ‘It is due to the sun. Before going to sleep, it paints the highest mountains with roses. Then everything goes dark and sleeping until tomorrow morning.’

The child was already tired and he contented himself with this explanation….

That same evening, we returned home to the city. Early, the next morning, I see my baby appear; he was almost ready to go to school.

‘Dad, please! Let’s go up to the roof terrace to see if the sun has returned. It will always be it or another one? How many suns are there in the sky?’

We went up and the show, if possible, was even more beautiful than the sunset the day before…

The sun was a ball of fire in an orange sky above the terraces and roofs of the city. It seems to see it setting up slowly… we were both mesmerized, silently watching this surreal show.

‘Hello sun!- exclaimed my little son full of admiration and joy- you are amazing, wonderful… thank you !’

Then looking at me, he lets go his curiosity: ‘Dad! What is the sun made of? Where does it go when we don’t see it? How large is it? What are the sun’s rays?’ …. and so on …..

But… he had to go to school ; then I made him a promise: ‘When you get back from school, I will tell you about the sun.. ok?’

‘Yes please !’, he said.

That is why I had some time to prepare ..!! because really I did not know much either !! And I did not mean to say too much non sense!

When he got back from school, he immediately wanted to get on the bed and listen to what I told him . I had promise..

I looked into his questioning little black eyes and started like this:

The sun belongs to what is called the SOLAR SYSTEM. This system includes the sun and everything that revolves around it : planets, (including our Earth), satellites, asteroids, comets.

But let’s not mix everything! Today we talk about the sun and some planet maybe.

The sun is the largest object in the solar system. Inside, it could be millions of planets the size of the Earth. The mass of the sun is so great that it attracts celestial bodies for billions of kilometers. This force is called GRAVITY and hold the whole system together.

The sun is a star that is a gigantic sphere of incandescent gas!

‘Oh!- chips in the little one- ‘what does incandescent mean?’

‘It means fiery, inflamed, very hot… so hot that it emits light radiations, rays!’

Then I continued….

The other stars seem less bright to us because they are far away; up close they too are huge balls of incandescent gas. In our area of the Universe, there are billions of stars and the sun is just one of them.

The temperature of the sun is truly incredible; we find it hard to imagine: on surface it is 5500 degrees Celsius and the center, called the NUCLEUS, is thousands of times hotter. 15 million degrees. Think that when in Kathmandu it is very hot, there are only 28-30 degrees!

So the sun is a very large ball of fire that is actually three-quarters made of gas called HYDROGEN. Inside, the hydrogen is transformed into another gas called HELIUM.

This transformation then produces an enormous amount of light and heat.

The heat and the light emitted by the sun are the source of all life on Earth.

‘Oh! And…. If the sun goes out?’….

‘Calm ! The sun will still shine for at least 5 billions years! And when you do not see it, it does not mean that it went out; it is just hidden. And sometimes there is more or less sun according to the seasons….’

But… one step at a time..

Sometimes there are also explosions on the surface of the sun but we don’t see them.

And among other things, looking at the sun hurts our eyes and when the sun is very strong, it is better to wear sunglasses.

You have seen that the sun rises and falls in the sky and there are days and nights.. but that does not mean that it changes shape.

The sun is always the same and it ’s us who don’t see it because the Earth is round and turns! It revolves around itself and around the sun. So sometimes we cannot see it because it shines on the other side.

I was about to go and get an orange and an apple (my school memories…:) to simulate these movements but……to avoid errors.. I said: ‘The teacher at school will explain to you much better than me! also about the health benefits of the sun for us, for the flowers etc….….. I was saved!’

And he still seemed satisfied…

I postponed to a few days after, the story of the planets, of the seasons, of the night and the day…

The curiosity of children is infinite and wonderful, the ‘why’ are endless.. but fortunately they are also satisfied with simple answers, and it is nice to be an ‘explaining father’!

I like these moments and this role.

‘Dad! Even if the sun is very hot, I prefer the sun to the rain. When there is the sun, I feel happier, I want to run out! Everything seems more cheerful!’

‘Yes- I answered- Let’s hope that tomorrow will be a beautiful sunny day and let’s run out and play in the sunshine.!’

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