What colour is the sun? - B1


What colour is the sun - 26th June 2023

The real colour of the sun's a topic that scientists talk about. Most scientists agree that our sun's a green star but appears white.

Children usually draw and colour the sun yellow. At noon, the sun looks white, but in the evening, it can look dark orange or red. These colour changes happen because of the atmosphere and how we see hot objects. NASA scientist W Dean Pesnell says that the sun's a green star that looks white because it's too bright.

When the sun's rays and heat reach Earth, molecules in the atmosphere make the sky look blue. The weaker orange and red light pass through the atmosphere. This creates beautiful colours during sunrise and sunset.

Our sun has more green light photons than any other colour. But, the brightness of the sun makes us see it as white. Some scientists, like Ethan Siegel, continue to disagree. Siegel believes that if the light we receive from the sun is white, then white is its true colour.

How we describe the sun's colour depends on our culture and languages. In your language, how's the sun's colour described?