The sun is round, very round, according to scientists

The sun is round – extremely round, say scientists in a new report.

The sun is actually the roundest object in nature with an equatorial bulge that is smaller than the width of a human hair.

Compare that with a planet like Jupiter, said the Guardian, which is 7 percent wider at its equator than the length running from pole to pole

Indeed, the Guardian reported that when scaled down to the size of a beachball, the sun may be the roundest natural object on Earth.

The only other object more round, say scientists, is an artificial sphere of silicon created as a standard for weight measures.

"The sun is very, very round, so it's difficult to measure any deviations in that roundness," said study auhtor Jeffrey Kuhn, of the University of Hawaii, according to National Geographic.

More from GlobalPost: Solar storm from the sun heads toward Earth

"It's only been in the last few years that we've been able to make decent shape observations."

Using NASA's Solar Dynamics Laboratory instruments, the authors took satellite pictures from every angle to make sure that all of the spacecraft's imperfections could be averaged to make for a precise measurement.

Researchers at the University of Hawaii, said that the findings are 50 years in the making and they were surprised by how round the sun really is.

The results were published in the journal Science.