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?

Question

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?

In: 1238

Answer 1

The air around you is more or less all the same temperature. Turning to face the sun and feeling an immediate warmth is heat delivered by the light from the sun. This is pretty easy to test, too, by moving in and out of shadows and feeling the difference.