Why is the sun yellow?

Answer 1

The earth science major above is a little confused. First, the wavelengths of visible light are the perfect size for our eyes to see them, otherwise we wouldn't! The Sun emits light of all different wavelengths (including those that are too long or too short for our eyes to see), but it emits most of its energy in visible wavelengths, with a peak specifically in the blue-green part of the spectrum.

So the real question should be "why isn't the Sun blue-green?" A few reasons. 1) The Sun also emits light from the rest of the visible spectrum (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet, and all the colors in between), so those colors get blended by our eyes. 2) Our atmosphere scatters light from the sun, but it scatters different colors differently - violet and blue get scattered best (that's why the sky is blue, by the way) and red, orange, and yellow are scattered least. 3) Our eyes are more sensitive to colors like yellow than they are to colors like violet and blue. All these things combined make the sun look yellow.

Answer 2

Actually the Chemical combustion in the sun emits white light - to experience this you need to go to a tropical country and look direct at the Sun - now this is not recommended because it will blind you - but why you see different colors as Yellow and Red is due to the prism effect of earth's atmosphere ! Towards the late evening you will see Red or Orange instead or Yellow !

Answer 3

it's doesent actually have any color. It is pure white, and really freaking bright. It is the particles (pollutants) in the atmosphere and the very nature of our own eyes that makes us perceive it as yellow. In photographs it looks yellow because a filter must be places over the camera or else the direct sunlight would destroy all the film in the camera.

So...it's not actually yellow, it is not actually white, it is just pure light and the wavelenghts are so small that human beings cannot actually see it. Oh and by the way, the sun doesen't actually emit heat onto the earth, only energy! the earth actually reemits the energ back as longer wave heat.

Answer 4

The sun being one of billions of stars in our galaxy, has its color dependent on its surface temperature. A stars color is determined by its surface temperature, much like an iron poker sitting in a fire. The hottest stars are colored blue-white (or in some extreme cases violet-blue) while the coolest stars are red to deep red.

Astronomers group stars according to their spectral class, which is related to color and temperature. The progression from hot to cold being thus:

O - violet-blue
B - blue
A - white
F - greenish-yellow-white
G - yellow (like our sun)
K - orange
M - red
R - red
N - red
S - red

The popular mnemonic to remember this sequence is "Oh Be A Fine Girl, Kiss Me Right Now Sweetie!"

The spectral class can and will change as the star evolves, though not along the progression of hot to cold. For more information read about the Hertzprung-Russell Diagram (and Main Sequence in particular) which plots the various types of stars according to temperature and absolute brightness (luminosity).

Answer 5

Because it is a flaming ball of gas which happens to be yellow

Answer 6

it's not weird, it's a perfectly legitimate scientific question.
it's actually white because of its very high temperature, but because of the way it reflects through the earth's atmosphere it appears yellow.

Answer 7

because it burns at 5780 degrees kelvin and that is the light frequency that the radiation emits and the atmosphere changes the color a little :]

Answer 8

That's a wierd question...no offence

Answer 9

caust its on fire, and fire is yellow