Is it yellow because from Earth it usually looks yellow to us? Or is it white because the sun gives off all wavelengths of light (white light)? Or is it some other color?
In: Planetary Science
Unfiltered, if we could safely look at it without burning our eyes, it would be white. The light emitted from the sun is absurdly bright and emits waves in the full spectrum that human eyes can see and then some. So if you chose to momentarily stare directly at the sun (don’t) it would appear white in the moment before it permanently burned your retina. The sun in the full sky isnt truly yellow. That’s sort of just the color used for cartoons and drawings. It’s white. As it gets lower in the sky to the point it’s safe to look at it begins to appear a yellowish color at sunset is because some of the highest frequency of light wave are being filtered out by the much longer span of atmosphere it’s passing through to reach your eyes.
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