Quote:
Originally Posted by gtbloke
to human eyes under the blanket of the atmosphere... the sun appears to be yellowish white,
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That is the view of a slight majority around here. Please cast your vote, too, in the
Midday Sun Poll.
Just why yellow is seen is unclear because if you project the solar image onto a white card, only white is seen, at least for me. Also, just for kicks, I used a simple strobe (SAD - Solar Attenuation Device
) and the sun appeared only white. Also, the clouds do not look yellow-white and they reflect light evenly, as I understand. Regardless, yellow is often seen.
Yes, that one has been around for a while. It is a computer estimated color. I think it is incorrect.
Quote:
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but to the everyday human eye the sun really does appear white !
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The simplest and biggest argument favoring white, especially over any yellow addition, is the fact that unfiltered solar projections at solar observatories produce only a
white image of the disk. Since the atmosphere diminishes (extinctions) more of the blue end of the spectrum than the red, then adding more of the blue end back into the color would produce more of a blue or blue-green color, but only if enough is added. However, I think there just isn't enough to make the sun's color change from white.
[Quicly added: There is a likelyhood that the central region of the sun would indeed look
bluish-white (assuming one adequately reduces the intensity to the eye).]