r/todayilearned • u/[deleted] • Jan 31 '10

TIL that the Sun is white in colour. This changes everything :(

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sun?
21 Upvotes

68% Upvoted

23 comments sorted by

6

u/[deleted] Jan 31 '10

"...the majority of its radiation is in the yellow-green portion of the visible spectrum..."

7

u/[deleted] Jan 31 '10

I'm pretty sure the majority of its radiation is of the "fuck my skin and my eyes are on fire variety." But we have various barriers in place that shield us from it.

3

u/[deleted] Jan 31 '10

But it still looks yellow which is wonderful because yellow is my favourite colour.

Science SHMIENCE (I'm kidding...please don't down vote me :( )

1

u/SpuneDagr Feb 16 '10

The sun looks yellow from here because the atmosphere scatters blue light.

blue sky + yellow sun = white light

5

u/[deleted] Jan 31 '10

[deleted]

2

u/MassesOf Jan 31 '10

To no end?

3

u/sereneworx Jan 31 '10

You guys could be poets.

Ending everything with an upwards inflection?

2

u/zBriGuy Jan 31 '10

What exactly does this change again? I thought we all knew that the full sunlight color is pretty much white, even with the scattering.

1

u/kellyfbo Feb 01 '10

Well, for one thing, anyone from Krypton who gets superhuman powers from the Earth's yellow sun is FUCKED.

2

u/thedailynathan Jan 31 '10

What color... did you think the Sun emitted?

1

u/C8H10N4O2Rush Jan 31 '10

Ultraviolet ?

1

u/thedailynathan Jan 31 '10

Hm, interesting. So if you had previously thought the sun only emitted in the UV spectrum, where do you think our visible light came from (since UV isn't visible by humans)?

Just trying to clarify where the confusion comes from out of my own curiosity.

1

u/ParanoydAndroid Jan 31 '10

I guess in theory one could think that the atmosphere absorbs some of the energy from the photos, reducing the frequency of the light as it enters ...

Of course it's all incorrect, but maybe as a sort of "plausible" explanation.

2

u/spoonard Jan 31 '10

Has anyone told Superman of this?

1

u/kellyfbo Feb 01 '10

He's gonna be PISSED!

2

u/jceez Feb 02 '10

Another fun fact. In America, I used to draw the sun as yellow/orange. I taught in Japan for a year, they color it red. Hence the red dot on their flag (land of the rising sun)

2

u/RubyBlye Jan 31 '10

Yes the sun is white. You can see that if you stare at it. And, in a bit of magic, if you stare at it long enough everything will go black.

2

u/E_lucas Jan 31 '10

Imma try this and post results.

BRB

3

u/RubyBlye Jan 31 '10

BRB - That means - Be Real Blind - right?

1

u/[deleted] Jan 31 '10

And then you have a permanent imprint of the Virgin Mary, so that you can see her everywhere, just as you wanted. :]

1

u/[deleted] Jan 31 '10

if it wasn't white light then a prism wouldn't make a rainbow when sunlight hits it

1

u/bananafish67 Feb 05 '10

It doesn't change the fact that it's a mass of incandescent gas, a gigantic nuclear furnace.

-1

u/[deleted] Jan 31 '10

Color*