Solar Soliloquy

        The Sun is one of our oldest friends. Form the very beginning, the Sun has been giving energy to our mother, Earth. In fact, Earth was formed from the Sun. So, in a way the Sun is our grandfather. In our solar system, the Sun is the oldest among the heavenly bodies. In various cultures, one Sun has been given many names. The Ancient Egyptians called the Sun Ra, who again had different names, as per the time of the day. The Ancient Greeks had two deities in this regard. One was a titan named Helios (from which we got the name Helium), who was later overthrown by the god Apollo (the old Romans called him the same, though scholars argue there was primarily a different Roman deity for the Sun). And according to the Vedic Mythology, the Sun was called Surya Deva. In all these cases, the sun god is said to be riding a chariot. Probably, Ra was exceptional, because he a rode a ship. However, all of them were male deities. Possibly only the Ancient Germans had a female deity for the Sun – Sól. Even she was said to be riding a chariot. Maybe chariots were a big hit in the old days. Although, deities are generally immortal, our grandfather Sun is not so. His days are limited. The age of the Sun is estimated to be around 9 billion years. And according to calculation, the Sun has already lived half his life. That is, the Sun is already 4.5 billion (approx.) years old. Thus in the next 4.5 billion years, the Sun will undergo dramatic changes, which would commence the end of our Solar System i.e. the end of our mother Earth, unless we kill her first.