We all reach for the yellow crayon when it’s time to draw the sun, right? And we know the sun is yellow because Superman gets his superpowers from a “yellow star.”
But light is a tricky thing! In space, the sun would appear white. By the time we see light from the sun, it has traveled 92,955,807 miles through space and through our atmosphere, which bends and filters light.
Colors like blue, green and violet scatter more easily than yellow, orange and red. This gives the sun a yellowish color throughout the day and an orange/reddish tint when it is near the horizon, even though it would be white if viewed from space. Sorry, Superman!
By the way, don’t look straight at the sun during the day to check! That might hurt your eyes!
Thee are great, kid-level science posts. We are enjoying them. -Max
Fun post, thank you!