We all know that oxygen is the most essential component for the sustenance of life on Earth and every organism, from single-celled to the largest creatures on the planet needs oxygen to survive. The reason that life beyond Earth does not exist is the absence of oxygen beyond the troposphere of the Earth. Space has no oxygen it has no gaseous component and is a vacuum. But if space is a vacuum, how is the sun burning so brightly in space?
Elementary science has taught us that any substance requires oxygen to burn. So how is the sun burning without oxygen? NASA has now answered the question that may linger in the minds of many. As per NASA, the sun’s illumination doesn’t result from burning as we typically associate with materials like wood or paper on fire. Instead, the sun emits light due to its massive composition of gas, where nuclear fusion occurs at its core. This fusion involves the collision of protons with such force that they merge, producing energy in the process.
Other nearby components, such as protons and electrons, are subsequently heated by this energy. This extremely hot temperature seems to be radiating forth from the star’s core. It eventually extends out into space and departs the star’s surface. This is the point where the temperature is transformed into light and heat.
Scientists occasionally describe the Sun as ‘burning’ hydrogen to generate light, but this is not entirely accurate. Hydrogen itself does not undergo combustion, so it cannot burn in the conventional sense. Instead, a process occurs wherein hydrogen atoms fuse, transforming into helium and it is this fusion process that causes the sun to shine. Therefore, the sun does not need oxygen to burn.
It is noteworthy that there are millions of such stars in the universe that burn the same way as our sun does. Some are even larger and shine brighter than the sun but because they are millions of light years away from us, they appear as small shining stars to us.
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