# The Sun isn't yellow. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 27, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247 "2012-05-27T14:49:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/1 "2012-05-27T14:49:22Z")
It’s all colors. I’m too chicken now to look directly at the Sun, but it seems to look white in a clear sky. So why does everyone (children) draw it as yellow? Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/2 "2012-05-27T15:05:00Z")
Perhaps because as it rises it changes in color from red to orange to yellow before becoming too bright to look upon directly. The yellow sun is a morning sun. Or it could have something to do with Reynolds scattering. However, my money is on color fairies. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/3 "2012-05-27T15:43:56Z")
Indoctrination. You rarely see blue water but that’s how children color it because that’s what they’ve been told. Why yellow? Because paper is white and the sun wouldn’t stand out if it was the same. Yellow is the next best color. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/4 "2012-05-27T15:53:42Z")
You have two logical choices. First one. The sun as seen from space is defined to be “white” and the sun as seen from the bottom of the atmosphere is slightly yellowish (because a non negligble fraction of the sun’s light (the bluish part) was scattered to create that bright blue sky you see). Or the sun as seen from some specific place on the earths surface under specific atmospheric, astronomical, and weather conditions is defined to be “white” and therefore the sun as seen from space is slightly “blueish” in comparision. To me the first way makes more sense because the defining condition is very simple and obvious. The second way requires one to define on specific condition out of a very large range of possible conditions. Also compared to the blue sky the sun is a bit yellowish. We have had this discussion before. And back then I did an experiment. Basically I illuminate a white piece of paper with just light from the sun. Then I illuminated it with light from the sun AND the sky. The first one was definitely yellowish compared to the second one. And I even took pics and looked at the color histograms of the photos. Yep, even the numbers said more yellow by comparision so it wasn’t just my eyeballs and personal “tastes”. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/5 "2012-05-27T16:15:23Z")
What else would you use your yellow crayon for? (Okay, flowers. And one stripe of the rainbow.) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/6 "2012-05-27T16:18:04Z")
I’d go with the distinctive yellow or orange color when the sun is low and can actually be looked at. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/7 "2012-05-27T16:48:16Z")
It is yellow. It says so in the Superman comics. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/8 "2012-05-27T17:16:49Z")
In science, using astronomy’s stellar classification, [our sun is classed as G2V](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_classification), and is indeed slightly yellowish. ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/9 "2012-05-27T17:48:24Z")
The sun _is_ yellow during certain parts of the day and it is more yellow in some places than others. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/10 "2012-05-27T17:58:47Z")
> [@Farmer\_Jane](#): > > The sun _is_ yellow during certain parts of the day and it is more yellow in some places than others. And mellow. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/11 "2012-05-27T18:06:39Z")
> [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](#): > > Indoctrination. You rarely see blue water but that’s how children color it because that’s what they’ve been told. It’s not blue out of the tap, but if you get water at enough depth, yes, I’d say blue is the best color. People didn’t start telling children “color that blue” for no reason. Unless Crayola’s more powerful than I thought. ---
**Author:** ![Knorf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/58956e/32.png) [@Knorf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knorf)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/12 "2012-05-27T18:37:58Z")
The reason the sun, which **is** yellowish as is obvious again looking at stellar classifications in astronomy, appears more white than yellow is that the light of the sun directly overhead is intense enough to overwhelm your eyes’ cones. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/13 "2012-05-27T19:27:18Z")
> [@Gagundathar](#): > > Or it could have something to do with Reynolds scattering. I believe that you meant [Rayleigh scattering.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayleigh_scattering) ---
**Author:** ![Farmer\_Jane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Farmer\_Jane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Farmer_Jane)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/14 "2012-05-27T19:31:09Z")
> [@Knorf](#): > > In science, using astronomy’s stellar classification, [our sun is classed as G2V](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_classification), and is indeed slightly yellowish. You mean its #fff5f2? ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/15 "2012-05-27T20:10:07Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > I believe that you meant [Rayleigh scattering.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rayleigh_scattering) Well, technically speaking if there is a shitload of aluminum foil floating around in the atmosphere there will also be significant Reynolds scattering. ---
**Author:** ![Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nunzio_Tavulari)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/16 "2012-05-27T21:49:39Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It’s not blue out of the tap, but if you get water at enough depth, yes, I’d say blue is the best color. People didn’t start telling children “color that blue” for no reason. Unless Crayola’s more powerful than I thought. In Bermuda perhaps. In New York, the ocean, Sound and rivers are greenish-black. Yes, Crayola is that powerful. Can you name another brand of crayon? If I say Burnt Umber, most will know what color that is. They know because of Crayola. Virtually every American learned the names of colors from a box of 64 Crayolas. If a kindergartener starts drawing pink water, their teachers or parent will correct dictate what color to make the sun, sky and water. To a child that doesn’t live next to the ocean, water has no color. A child who lives next to the brown Mississippi River has likely never seen blue water. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/17 "2012-05-27T21:54:38Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > The Sun isn’t yellow. …it’s chicken. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/18 "2012-05-28T00:15:48Z")
> [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](#): > > In Bermuda perhaps. In New York, the ocean, Sound and rivers are greenish-black. > > Yes, Crayola is that powerful. Can you name another brand of crayon? If I say Burnt Umber, most will know what color that is. They know because of Crayola. Virtually every American learned the names of colors from a box of 64 Crayolas. > > If a kindergartener starts drawing pink water, their teachers or parent will correct dictate what color to make the sun, sky and water. To a child that doesn’t live next to the ocean, water has no color. A child who lives next to the brown Mississippi River has likely never seen blue water. I grew up by the brown Illinois River, but it is indeed blue from a sufficient distance on a sunny day. ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/19 "2012-05-28T00:26:05Z")
> [@Nunzio\_Tavulari](#): > > In Bermuda perhaps. In New York, the ocean, Sound and rivers are greenish-black. I remember that from the 60s, but I hear they’ve cleaned it up. That would be nice. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2012, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247/20 "2012-05-28T03:12:57Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > It’s not blue out of the tap, but if you get water at enough depth, yes, I’d say blue is the best color. People didn’t start telling children “color that blue” for no reason. Unless Crayola’s more powerful than I thought. You need to google and look at the Ohio river. We gots us some green looking water flowing through dem der locks. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-sun-isnt-yellow/623247.md?page=2)