Sun — star, shown live in Cosmoscope, a real-time 3D map of the universe.
A middle-aged yellow dwarf holding 99.86% of the solar system’s mass. Light leaving its surface now took roughly 100,000 years to escape the core — then just over 8 minutes to reach you.
Cosmoscope puts Sun at its true position in the solar system, computed from JPL-derived ephemeris and updated continuously. Open the live 3D view to see, in real time, how far Sun is from the Sun and from Earth right now, how many minutes or hours light takes to cross that gap, and how fast it is moving along its orbit. Scrub the timeline to place Sun where it was on any past date, or where it will be years from now.