It is unlikely that you still remember from school what the formula to obtain the mass of an object was like, but if we add to that the complexity of calculating the mass of a star like the Sun, we are absolutely convinced that you will have no idea about This process. What is the mass of the Sun ?
The first thing we must mention is that, thanks to physics, we have the possibility of calculating the mass of the planets, including the Earth, the stars, the satellites and, how could it be otherwise, also the Sun. the body around which all the others revolve within the system that bears his name, the Solar System.
How can you find out the mass of the Sun?
Scientists have come to the conclusion that, to do so, the main thing is to take into account the theory that the force of gravity is constant on all objects. In this way, specific information about the mass of the Sun can be obtained, as long as it is in relation to the Earth, for example.
Taking advantage of already known physical formulas, the mass of the central object, which in this case becomes the Sun , is then calculated from the speed with which another rotates around it, and considering the distance between them. Sounds pretty difficult, right?
How is the mass of the Sun calculated?
Well, to be more specific, we can say that what is done is to apply a mathematical formula of Newton, known as “Kepler’s third law”.
This was enunciated to describe the orbit that a planet traces around the Sun, starting from initial data such as the distance from the major partial axis of the orbit and the total period it requires.
Without going into the details of that formula, we anticipate that the result is approximately two billion tons or, what is the same, more than 330,000 Earth planets in mass.
Precisely, it is that impressive mass of the Sun that generates attraction on the other planets, and the simple explanation about why they rotate in their orbits, around it.
That is the reason, on the other hand, why scientists have a basic unit of mass measurement in the solar mass, and that is that everything that can be measured in outer space, such as the aforementioned elements, but also black holes or galaxies, must be analyzed by virtue of the mass with respect to the sun, rather than by its weight as such, which would not have much grip.
