Why is the Sun not the same color as its peak emission frequency?
If I am not mistaken, the Sun has it’s peak emission frequency in the green wavelength.
Well, why do most people think the sun appears yellow when it doesn’t? The sun appears white to the naked eye. (Which would be more obvious if you could actually stare at it long enough.)
That doesn’t mean that there aren’t stars which display a definite color…and contrary to the previous answer, there are green stars–one being in the multiple system of Gamma Andromeda.
Yes. And since we evolved under the Sun’s light, our eyes automatically compensate. This is why there are no green stars in the sky.
References :
Well, why do most people think the sun appears yellow when it doesn’t? The sun appears white to the naked eye. (Which would be more obvious if you could actually stare at it long enough.)
That doesn’t mean that there aren’t stars which display a definite color…and contrary to the previous answer, there are green stars–one being in the multiple system of Gamma Andromeda.
References :
I am no expert on human eyes and perceptions. My answer would be more based on physics.
Even though the solar spectrum peaks around 5500A, the spectrum of a 6000K blackbody (like the sun) is rather flat. It means emissions from other colors are also significant. For that precise reason we are seeing the composite of emission from the entire visual spectrum, and that yields the white light
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