Symbol for the Sun
Written by Fraser Cain
Symbol for the Sun.
The astronomical symbol for the Sun is a shield with a dot at the middle. This symbol comes the ancient Egyptian sign for "sun" or "Ra" in the hieroglyphic writing system. The source of this symbol is unknown, but some historians think that the dot might represent a huge central sunspot.
Astronomers use this symbol for the Sun all the time when they're working on research paper. For example, instead of saying that a star has 50 times the mass of the Sun, they would just use the symbol – 50 M⊙.
The circle with a dot Sun symbol is also used in astrology, but since this is a website decided to astronomy… we won't say anything else about that. It's also the alchemical symbol for gold.
If you're wondering the, symbol for the Earth is a circle with a cross through it, and the symbol for Mars is the same as the symbol for the male gender.
Wikipedia has a great list of all the astronomical symbols.
We have recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast just about the Sun called The Sun, Spots and All.
Filed under: Astronomy
