Date : July 2018 (last update : Oct 2020)
Sun color in space : Fictional colors vs factual white
Note : I strongly believe that all school / college students should be exposed to this article because formal academics (including a degree in astronomy/astrophysics) does a very poor job of educating this basic science.
Wrong Sun Color Everywhere
The sun's true color in space being white, is school grade basic science (glass prism experiment). Yet, schools, colleges, scientific papers, media & Hollywood films often reject a factual white sun & stubbornly depict it in fictional colors like pale yellow, yellow, orange or red in visuals of solar system or sun in space.
This is as blatantly wrong as a flat earth depiction. Factual white sun is shown rarely, while multi-colored fiction is shown very often as science.
Shared below is some basic science education about the sun being white :
Below : Some rare visuals of white sun in space.
Astronauts on the space station or moon would see a pure white sun against the black space.
So, why are the wrong sun colors are so persistent ? Why doesn't the yellow sun myth die ? To the best of my knowledge, there are only 3 culprits & they all are inexcusable :
- ignorance (due to poor education, across the world)
- mental conditioning (due to repeated, prolonged exposure to wrong, unscientific visuals right from childhood; even scientists are not immune to it)
- science denialism (despite being corrected, many people, including experts, still depict fiction, rejecting a factual white sun)
Below : Some commonly seen wrong sun colors.
To see how deep rooted the myth of yellow sun is, just search online for images of the solar system. You will rarely find a factually accurate white sun. Even scientific literature shows nonsense depictions (visit the link above). The white sun examples shared here are rare and it took me a lot of time to collect them. I have come across many yellow sun defenders who have never even seen a white sun in solar system visuals — a clear failure of visual science communication. By beginning this article with accurate imagery, I want to provide the essential 'visual reset' needed to correct this systemic misunderstanding.
Illogical Justifications For Wrong Sun Colors
On social media, when I criticize the wrong sun colors, people give many justifications for it, all of them wrong of course. Listed below are some of the common ones & my counter to them :
- Yellow dwarf star
- Ground perspective
- Solar spectrum
- False-color imagery
- Artistic license
- Surface temperature
Yellow dwarf star : The sun is classified as a yellow dwarf star & hence, a yellow sun depiction is factual.
While the sun is categorized as a G-type "yellow dwarf" star, based on its temperature, this refers to spectral classification, not its visual color to the human eye. The color of the sun is still white !
Star depiction is the problem, not star classification, although the latter could have avoided colors in their names since it confuses so many, including scientists. Since solar system visuals show planets in the visible spectrum, white is the only correct color for the sun in it. Every other color is wrong.
Extracts from Wikipedia on G-type stars : "The term yellow dwarf is a misnomer, because G-type stars actually range in color from white, for more luminous types like the Sun ... The Sun is in fact white ..."
What is truly shocking is that I have come across PhD holding scientists on X / Twitter who were not aware of such a basic science & gave the yellow dwarf justification ! They really thought the sun is yellow.
Ground perspective : The sun looks yellow from earth’s surface & that is why it is depicted as yellow in solar system visuals.
Yes, I understand Rayleigh scattering by the Earth's atmosphere but that is a poor justification for misrepresenting the sun as yellow in solar system visuals, which clearly is not being seen through the Earth's atmosphere but from space. This argument is so illogical that it only reveals the sheer lack of intelligence of the people saying this.
Besides, if ground perspective were to be the basis for teaching science, then we should be depicting the planets & a yellow sun revolving around a flat Earth because that is exactly how it looks to a person on the ground. But we don't do it because it would be stupid. So, lets also stop the stupidity of a yellow sun in solar system visuals/models.
Refusal to accept evidence & cling on to outdated ideas is called science denialism. And the scientific community & the media are guilty of this. Despite my repeated corrections on social media, they still stubbornly depict nonsense because they don't see anything wrong with it, just like flat earthers don't see anything wrong with their visuals.
Solar spectrum : Yellow is the strongest wavelength in the solar spectrum. Hence, yellow depiction is factual.
People saying this are totally unaware of how wrong this is. Actually, green or blue-green is the strongest wavelength in the solar spectrum. Anyway, if the logic of depicting the sun by the strongest wavelength is correct, then how come we don't see a green sun or a blue-green sun in any solar system visual/model ?
The argument of choosing the strongest wavelength to represent the sun color in space, is like choosing an Xray pic of your skeleton to represent you on the passport or identity card, since bones are the strongest part of your body ! But thankfully, nobody does foolish things like that. While spectroscopy is a useful tool, using it to establish the color of anything is a ridiculously wrong approach & the final conclusion (according to the sun logic) is that everything is represented by just one color !
The rainbow colors are a sub-component of the sun's white light, just like bones are a sub-component of our body, and seeds are a sub-component of the fruit. The sub-component is not directly visible and cannot represent the main entity, by any logic. The fruit, the body & the sun, need a photograph to represent it, taken in the visible spectrum, as is done to represent the planets, moons, asteroids & comets. All the planets are depicted the way they appear in visible spectrum, to our eyes. But when it comes to depicting the sun, why do people adopt silly arguments, like flat earthers ?
Besides, a solar spectrum is a graph & not a color. It is wrong to assign a color to the sun, based on an interpretation of a graph. Why are such gimmicks needed when it is clear that the sun is white ? Also, the people who argue that the sun's true color is green, pale yellow, yellow, orange or red, are indirectly saying that those colors get magically split into rainbow colors with a glass prism - revealing their poor knowledge of basic physics.
Spectrum analysis is a very lame justification for misrepresenting the sun color. In the spectrum of every planet, some color will always dominate but it will be wrong to depict all the 8 planets as mere flat colors by taking the strongest color to represent the whole planet and rejecting all other colors & patterns. Then it will be another fiction. So, deciding the sun color based on the strongest wavelength is nonsense.
False-color imagery : The colorful suns that you have often seen in space visuals, are artificially colored, invisible / visible wavelengths of sun's radiation. They are fine for sun study but in solar system visuals/models, the sun needs to be a factual white.
In the space pic sequence above, white sunlight briefly appears to be yellow/orange, when seen through the Earths thin atmosphere but the sun's color is still white.
Artistic license : Sun is just shown in a way that the audience is familiar with. A flat white disc would be boring. A colored sun with details is more interesting. It is just stock footage/art, for representational purposes.
All these justifications are laughable.
Surface temperature : The sun is depicted according to its surface temperature. 5700K = yellow & hence, a yellow sun is factual.
Scientists say the color of a star is an indication of the temperature at its surface. So, here is their strange logic - they look at a white sun, estimate its temperature & say, it corresponds to yellow & depict it as such !
White Sun --> 5,900K --> Yellow Sun
(Source - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_temperature, 5,900K above Earth's atmosphere)
=======================================
THE PROBLEM - One star but multiple colors, in space visuals - White, Yellow, Orange & Red.
Looks like many space experts & institutions do not know basic science ! If they do know, then they should depict a factual white sun. If they know 2+2=4, then why write 5 & for whom ?
One group looks at a spherical earth & depicts it as FLAT and another looks at a white sun in space & depicts it as YELLOW / ORANGE / RED ! Both groups :
- reject evidence
- religiously & stubbornly depict fiction
- give dumb justifications for it
- have no photo evidence for their depictions
- get upset when corrected & block the corrector
Just like Earth cannot be both spherical & flat, the sun in space cannot be White, Yellow, Orange & Red, all at the same time. It is not a multi-colored star ! In the visible spectrum, it looks pure white. So, solar system visuals need to show a white sun, since the the planets are also shown in the same visible spectrum. Colorful interpretations of a white sun in solar system visuals are as wrong as a flat interpretation of a spherical earth.
And those who do know the sun is white when seen from space, do not bother to educate the ignorant people. In fact, they themselves promote fiction or are very tolerant of it ! If the experts know the sun is white, then they should depict it as such, in solar system visuals. What stops them ? Why peddle fiction as science ? Unless they are ignorant of basic science or deny science. Then how are they any different from flat earthers ?
Scientists say the color of a star is an indication of the temperature at its surface. So, here is their strange logic - they look at a white sun, estimate its temperature & say, it corresponds to yellow & depict it as such !
White Sun --> 5,900K --> Yellow Sun
(Source - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_temperature, 5,900K above Earth's atmosphere)
Regardless of how stars are classified or what the sun temperature is, the sun in space visuals has to be depicted the way it looks (from space) - in the same visible spectrum used to represent the planets, and it looks WHITE ! It has to be a family photo. One member alone cannot be in Xray or some artificially colored invisible / visible wavelength. The word "color or visual" automatically implies visible spectrum. The idea is to "show/see", isn't it ? Invisible wavelengths are fine for sun study but cannot represent the sun in a solar system visual, just as an Xray of your skeleton cannot represent you on the passport.
Even science-fiction movies & tv ads have started showing a factual white sun in space but if the scientific & academic community had made those movies / ads, then they would surely have shown a fictional yellow/orange/red sun, just like flat earthers .
I have been repeatedly inviting the white sun supporters to criticize the yellow/orange/red sun supporters and vice versa but they refuse to criticize each other & are ever ready to criticize flat earthers instead (or even my corrections). It is like saying my yellow / orange sun fiction is better than your flat earth fiction. Wonderful !
they tell me there is no conspiracy. Science denialism/ignorance is my point but they equate criticism to conspiracy, just like pseudo-scientists. Very amusing :-)
Why is the true sun color such a taboo topic for space experts, that they clamp down on my comments like the way the ancient church of Galileo's times clamped down on anyone saying that the earth revolved around the sun, going against the official narrative ? Why so hostile if you are sitting on a pile of evidence ? Why not educate / enlighten me ?
Star DEPICTION is the problem, not star classification. Green, Yellow, Orange & Red are not some mysterious invisible wavelengths. Human eyes and cameras can easily detect them but when i ask the supporters of colored sun to show VISUAL evidence (not text), taken from space, they always disappear after an angry outburst & labelling me :-) I concede to all the labels and adjectives but please show me your fantastic EVIDENCE ! (not your fantastic interpretations). Give me a link to it. I too wish to be enlightened. Please don't hoard knowledge, share it.
I look forward to an intelligent rebuttal of the points made here. I have not yet come across any logical intelligent reasons for peddling fiction as science.
Above : The drawback of such wrong depictions of a white sun is that, kids get brainwashed into believing in fictional sun colors. The proof can be easily seen in their illustrations & models of the solar system, depicting pure nonsense, similar to a fictional flat earth. Since model making is usually aided by parents & evaluated by teachers, even their inexcusable ignorance is at full display, for everyone to see. Some of these brainwashed kids grew up to become scientists & argue with me, justifying a stupid yellow sun.
I would not be surprised if kids of space scientists / experts depict the sun as a fictional yellow star in a solar system illustration or model, being blissfully ignorant of the sun being white in color.
Usually 3 types of people respond to my comments when i say that sun should be a factual white in visuals of solar system/space :
1. they are convinced yellow/orange is a factual depiction or at least, nothing wrong with it
2. they agree it is white but did not like my tone/equating with flat earthers
3. they just hate being corrected
Regardless of the reasons, all 3 categories get provoked when i correct non-science
--------------------------------------------------------------
3 QUESTIONS
Simple things I want to know from the audience : fact & criticism of fiction.
- According to you, which sun color is factual for solar system visuals - White, Green, Yellow, Orange or Red ? And please back it up with a visual evidence (not words or interpretations), if it is not white.
- Also, what is your criticism of the sun colors, which you think are wrong or fictional, for a solar system visual ?
- Why is fiction peddled as science ? Why can't solar system visuals depict factual colors ?
Everybody dodges these 3 simple questions, regardless of their academic qualifications & professional experience :-) True color of the sun is the simplest IQ test of a person.
Feel free to comment, agree / disagree
& even post links relevant to the topic.
***
No comments:
Post a Comment