The Star That Made Your Day
The story of the world’s original influencer and the "tiny orange pixel".
Who might it be?
Despite never replying, people still follow her every single day
She’s hot, and that’s an objective measurement
She’s followed by 8 billion people
The phrase "made my day" is the most common comment on her posts… and it’s literal
I hope that you already have an idea.
It's our closest star, the Sun.
This article is sponsored by the energy of the Sun, which helped to develop all life on Earth, including me.
When people ask me what my hobbies are I often reply with “chasing sunrises and sunsets”, and I have a strong reason to do so.
I'm sure that by the end of this article you’ll look at our star differently (but please not directly).
Sunrise
It's the end of March 2025, in the small coastal Spanish city of Tarifa. It's 8 am, and I only have ten minutes left. So, I'm running towards the best spot to watch the Sun rise over the Mediterranean Sea. For the first time this week, the clouds won’t interrupt our morning meeting.
It all starts with what I call the "tiny orange pixel". For now, for a brief moment, I can look directly at it. But the pixel grows with every second, so this beautiful moment ends far too soon.
Here are my perspectives after such experiences:
We are moving fast, so remember to cherish the moment — seeing how the tiny orange pixel grows reminds me of Earth spinning around at 1,600 km/h, and how life can rush by just as fast without us noticing.
The Sun is the only constant in our lives — everything around us has changed but our ancestors have watched the very same sunrise for thousands of years.
We don't have control over most of the circumstances, and that's ok — the sky might be covered by dense clouds and you'll miss the tiny orange pixel. Don't attach your happiness to things you can't control. Ignore the weather, news or election results. Be happy that the day has started. For me, this perception was strengthened during the silent meditation retreat.
Everything changes and each day is different — the sunrise looks different every day due to a unique combination of atmospheric conditions, clouds, and the spot on the horizon from which it appears. For me, it's impossible to get bored of these moments.
We exist thanks to the heat from ongoing thermonuclear processes happening on our star. But I usually don't think about these constant explosions. I just focus on my day — except for those brief moments with the tiny orange pixel.
Sunset
Tarifa is one of these special cities on Earth where you can watch both the sunrise and sunset over the water. In this case, the sunrise over the Mediterranean Sea, and the sunset over the Atlantic Ocean.
Sunsets are just as important and as interesting to observe as sunrises, with the same beautiful sets of colours. They are great for moments of reflection.
When the Sun is getting lower and lower, there is that fleeting moment when we see the tiny orange pixel again, right before it sinks into the ocean. I like to wave goodbye and say to myself, "Oh, and now she's gone." Sunsets mark the perfect end of the day. We are done.
But the cycle will continue tomorrow — the day has just ended, a lot has happened, since sunrise your heart has beaten more than 42,000 times. There is something comforting in knowing that the Sun will be here tomorrow.
Data Behind The Tiny Orange Pixel
It might not seem right to call something “tiny” when it has a mass of 1.9891 × 10³⁰ kg, or about 333,000 times the mass of the Earth. But to an observer, it’s just a speck of light.
I'm sure you know all of this, as it's like not knowing your mother's birthday, but in case you forgot — some of the details:
Size: The Sun accounts for 99.86% of the mass in our Solar System.
Distance: About 150 million kilometres (93 million miles) from Earth (1 AU)
Energy: Every second, the Sun releases more energy than humans have used in all of history.
Lifespan: Currently about 4.6 billion years old, and it's halfway through its main sequence life — expected to influence Earth for another 5 billion years.
Core temperature: Around 15 million°C (27 million°F).
Light travel time: It takes 8 minutes and 19 seconds for sunlight to reach Earth.
Summary
We rush through our days, but taking regular pauses is important for our well-being. We can’t control many things, but we can help ourselves by stopping for a moment.
Even when the Sun is hidden behind the clouds, it’s still there, giving us energy. It’s comforting to know that the world’s original influencer will stay with us for the next 5 billion years.
What is your relationship with the Sun? — I hope that your next sunset or sunrise will be an excellent opportunity to think about it.
Sometimes to change your perspective you may need to watch the first or the last tiny orange pixel of the day.
Thanks for reading!
— Michał
P.S. When I shared with my friend that I write a newsletter, the first question was: "Is there an article about sunrises? ...because you keep talking about it". Thanks for that question!
P.P.S. I'm here to show you different perspectives, and give you food for thought. I'll continue to write about mental models, ways of thinking and decision-making but sometimes chasing tiny orange pixels is equally important, to pause and reflect.
Sunny Resources
Images from SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory): https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Live_view_of_the_Sun_from_SOHO
Video: “NASA | Thermonuclear Art – The Sun In Ultra-HD (4K)”
Video: “To Scale: THE SOLAR SYSTEM”
Total Solar Eclipse Reminder
Make sure to check when the next total eclipse of the world’s original influencer will happen: https://science.nasa.gov/eclipses/future-eclipses/
12 August 2026: A total solar eclipse will be visible in Greenland, Iceland, Spain, Russia, and a small area of Portugal
A total solar eclipse is a rare event. It’s still on my bucket list. Also, don’t wait too long — the Moon is moving away from us by 3.78 centimetres every year, which means that in 700 million years, it’ll be too small to fully cover the Sun.
More Photos from Tarifa
Thanks for the reminder about the solar eclipse! I crossed a rocket launch off my bucket list this year - now it's time to start planning for the eclipse. :)