The Sun has an atmosphere comprised of of hydrogen with helium and some other elements. The Sun does not burn hydrogen like the space shuttle main engines did (burning hydrogen and oxygen giving water vapor), but uses a process of nuclear fusion to make hydrogen into helium. Oxygen is not involved in any kind of combustion on the Sun. The Sun does not have flames like a fire here on Earth — but it is a giant ball of gas that is much hotter than any flame you could make here on Earth.

The Sun is a sphere of gas. In the Sun scientists have found about 2/3 of the elements that are known on the Earth. Helium was found there even before it was found on the Earth. As these elements on the Sun are all light, it is possible that the rest of the known elements which are heavier can be found nearer the centre of the Sun. The outermost layer of the Sun’s atmosphere, the corona, can only be seen with the naked eye during a total solar eclipse. Then, the light from the photosphere is fully masked by the Moon. The corona is a ‘crown of rays’ with a temperature of over a million degrees Celsius, which usually has an asymmetric form – depending on the Sun’s activity.