When we turn our face towards the sun on a day with clear skies: Is the heat we feel on our skin actual heat radiation from the surface of the sun or do we just feel the warmth of the molecules in our atmosphere which have been “warmed” by radiation from the upper atmosphere?
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When you turn to face the Sun, the heat you feel is unobstructed radiation from every part of the whole body of the star – even from the surface on the further side pointing away from you. As it strikes your skin it has been reduced in intensity by the distance and partial blockage caused by the gaseous constituents and the solid particles in the atmosphere. If you could be on the Moon without a space helmet you would feel the same but much stronger heat as there is about the same distance from the Sun but less blocking matter as the radiation covers that distance.
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