WHAT COLOUR IS THE SUN?
The answer depends on whether you’re on Earth or in space
WORDS ANDREW MAY
The Sun looks yellow through our atmosphere
© NASA / Getty
Did you know?
The Sun emits slightly more green light than yellow
This photograph taken by astronauts shows that the Sun is really white
The Sun is so bright that it’s dangerous to stare straight at it. When we do glimpse it, either low in the sky or partially obscured by clouds, it generally looks yellow in colour, or even orange close to the horizon. But if we approach it more scientifically, it’s not that simple. Sunlight is actually made up of all the colours of the rainbow – after all, rainbows are produced by sunlight. These colours represent different wavelengths of light, and the Sun emits roughly equal amounts of all of them. Combining all these colours together makes white light, which means the true colour of the Sun must also be white. In fact, in outer space, for example as seen from the International Space Station, the Sun really does appear pure white. So why does it look yellow from the surface of our planet?