The Sun at closer distances
Our nearest star opens into a luminous globe as the distance shrinks. Its granulation and sunspot groups are artistic reconstruction informed by photospheric research, not a measured global map or current solar activity. Apparent size is calculated; warm colour and optical glow are authored choices.
- 1,391,400 km
- star
What would the Sun look like on an impossible close pass?
At 3,000,000 km, the Sun spans 26.1° across your sky — about 50 times the width of the full Moon. Light crosses that gap in 10.0 seconds.
The luminous disc fills the sky, with dark sunspot groups and fine granulation. The landscape is staged; heat, radiation and daylight illumination are not simulated.
At this distance, Earth would not survive. Enjoy the view.
How would the Sun look above its surface?
At 10,000,000 km, the Sun spans 8.0° across your sky — about 15 times the width of the full Moon. Light crosses that gap in 33.4 seconds.
The globe contracts with distance, retaining its fine surface texture and restrained optical glow.
How big would the Sun look inside Mercury’s orbit?
At 25,000,000 km, the Sun spans 3.2° across your sky — about 6.2 times the width of the full Moon. Light crosses that gap in 83.4 seconds.
Sunspot groups grow smaller as the apparent disc narrows.
How big would the Sun look from Mercury?
At 57,900,000 km, the Sun spans 1.4° across your sky — about 2.7 times the width of the full Moon. Light crosses that gap in 3.2 minutes.
The disc remains wider than it appears from Earth, using Mercury’s mean orbital distance.
How big does the Sun look from Earth?
At 149,597,871 km, the Sun spans 32.0′ across your sky — about 1.0 times the width of the full Moon. Light crosses that gap in 8.3 minutes.
The familiar apparent size, shown with compressed photographic exposure against a staged landscape rather than a daylight simulation.
What Perigee calculates and what it renders
The apparent size is calculated, but the light, colour and environmental treatment are an authored visualization. Perigee does not model heat, radiation, gravity or tides.
How Perigee calculates apparent size