Learn what color the Sun is and why it appears different colors from Space, the Earth, and in photographs. What is the color of the sun? The sun's color is actually white, and here's why elements on Earth alter it's color. Many people imagine the sun as yellow or orange, often depicted that way in art and media.
However, the sun's actual color is white when viewed from space, without Earth's atmospheric interference. This discrepancy between its true and perceived color results from scientific principles. Understanding these phenomena clarifies why our star looks different depending on the observation point.
The sun looks yellow because Earth's atmosphere changes its color as we see it. If you see the sun from space, it looks white, which is its true color. Atmosphere scatters blue and violet light away, making the sun look yellow when we see it.
The Sun would have to emit only green light for our eyes to perceive it as green. This means the actual colour of the Sun is white. So, why does it generally look yellow? This is because the Earth's atmosphere scatters blue light more efficiently than red light.
The Sun is yellow, right? Turns out it's not that simple. What colour the Sun is depends on how you observe it, and from where. Sun looking reddish during the sunset (Credits: Kirshelena/Shutterstock) Color Of The Sun In Space If you are lucky enough to make it to the International Space Station one day, you can see the actual white color of the sun because it is not distorted by our atmosphere.
From space, the sun will appear like a huge white glowing sphere. The Sun appears yellow from Earth due to atmospheric scattering, but in reality, it's a white star emitting all visible colors evenly. Project an image of the Sun through a pinhole camera.
What color is the image? Look at some pictures of the analemma, which shows the Sun at various heights during a year. Some analemmas are taken at latitudes where the lower portions of the Sun are close to the horizon, like the one below. Can you see a difference in color?
Ask anyone, "what color is the Sun"? and they'll tell you the obvious answer: it's yellow. But is it really? Please don't go check, it's not safe to look directly at the Sun with your unprotected.