A massive fusion reaction powers the sun, but saying that is a simple description. It’s far more complicated than that. It gets its energy from protons slamming into each other. But since protons normally repel each other –  how does it work?

The intense heat of the sun agitates the protons to such an extent that they slam into each other. This continuous cycle of smashing protons creates more heat and energy – those explosions keeping agitating other protons and the result is super-powerful nuclear fusion. The amount of power given off in each explosion is substantial and results in a massive amount of heat this is what continues to power the sun.

Eventually, the sun will burn out after using up all its available material. The amount of material that the sun, or any star, has to smash together is finite and eventually just burns itself out and burns through the fuel. However, stars burn for millions and billions of years, continuously smashing together material and creating heat. The sun will cool and when it dies, the solar system will die with it as the planets cool. Without the sun, life on Earth and any life that may exist (microbial or otherwise) in the solar system will die.

fusion power: getting the sun to shine to share its energy

Check out the video for a deeper, but easy-to-understand explanation of where the sun gets its energy from. For a far more detailed, and technical explanation, check out How the Sun Shines. The linked article comes from the Nobel Institute and was written by John N. Bahcall, an award-winning physicist.