Wikipedia:Today's featured article/December 21, 2023

The Sun has appeared in fiction since classical antiquity, but for a long time it rarely received attention. Many of the early depictions viewed the Sun as essentially Earth-like and potentially habitable—a once-common belief about celestial objects in general known as the plurality of worlds—and depicted various kinds of solar inhabitants. As more became known about the Sun through advances in astronomy, in particular its temperature, fewer solar lifeforms were depicted. Instead, many stories focused on the death of the Sun, either by going out or going nova, and the ensuing havoc on Earth. Less disastrously, solar flares and eclipses have also been depicted. The Sun has been portrayed as a source of power—both in the form of solar power and superpower abilities. It poses a danger to spacecraft that approach it, which occurs in several stories. Overall, the Sun remains relatively uncommon as a point of focus in science fiction, particularly in comparison to depictions of Mars and Venus.