Solar and solar system abundances of the elements

With the recent progress in astrophysical observations, the solar abundances of the elements (elemental composition of the sun) can be profitably compared with the solar system abundances of the elements. In this paper, current solar and solar system abundances of the elements are reviewed and are compared; there seems to be no systematic difference. Solar system abundances of the elements are mostly deduced from the chemical composition of meteorites (mainly C1 chondrites). Compiling and evaluating the data for C2 chondrites, I once inferred that C2 chondrites also were potential candidates for the solar system standard of elemental abundances. The current data show that their abundances correlate with the solar system abundances extremely well. However better data are needed for C2 chondrites in order to acsertain if the correlationis as good as for C1 chondrites. In the near future, the solar wind will be collected by a spacecraft and yield solar abundances with quality comparable to meteorite data.