A report on Visible spectrum, Sunlight and Light

White light is dispersed by a prism into the colors of the visible spectrum.

The Sun, as seen from low Earth orbit overlooking the International Space Station. This sunlight is not filtered by the lower atmosphere, which blocks much of the solar spectrum.

A triangular prism dispersing a beam of white light. The longer wavelengths (red) and the shorter wavelengths (blue) are separated.

Sunrise over the Gulf of Mexico and Florida. Taken on 20 October 1968 from Apollo 7.

The electromagnetic spectrum, with the visible portion highlighted

Newton's color circle, from Opticks of 1704, showing the colors he associated with musical notes. The spectral colors from red to violet are divided by the notes of the musical scale, starting at D. The circle completes a full octave, from D to D. Newton's circle places red, at one end of the spectrum, next to violet, at the other. This reflects the fact that non-spectral purple colors are observed when red and violet light are mixed.

Newton's observation of prismatic colors (David Brewster 1855)

Sunlight on Mars is dimmer than on Earth. This photo of a Martian sunset was imaged by Mars Pathfinder.

Beam of sun light inside the cavity of Rocca ill'Abissu at Fondachelli-Fantina, Sicily

How visible light interacts with objects to make them colorful

Solar irradiance spectrum at top of atmosphere, on a linear scale and plotted against wavenumber

$Due to refraction, the straw dipped in water appears bent and the ruler scale compressed when viewed from a shallow angle.$

Approximation of spectral colors on a display results in somewhat distorted chromaticity

Sunlight shining through clouds, giving rise to crepuscular rays

Hong Kong illuminated by colourful artificial lighting.

Earth's atmosphere partially or totally blocks some wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, but in visible light it is mostly transparent

Spectrum of the visible wavelengths at approximately sea level; illumination by direct sunlight compared with direct sunlight scattered by cloud cover and with indirect sunlight by varying degrees of cloud cover. The yellow line shows the power spectrum of direct sunlight under optimal conditions. To aid comparison, the other illumination conditions are scaled by the factor shown in the key so they match at about 470 nm (blue light).

Sunlight penetrating through a forest canopy in Germany

Édouard Manet: Le déjeuner sur l'herbe (1862-63)

$Thomas Young's sketch of a double-slit experiment showing diffraction. Young's experiments supported the theory that light consists of waves.$

Téli verőfény ("Winter Sunshine") by László Mednyánszky, early 20th century

Sunlight is a portion of the electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun, in particular infrared, visible, and ultraviolet light.

- Sunlight

Electromagnetic radiation in this range of wavelengths is called visible light or simply light.

- Visible spectrum

When direct solar radiation is not blocked by clouds, it is experienced as sunshine, a combination of bright light and radiant heat.

- Sunlight

Generally, electromagnetic radiation (EMR) is classified by wavelength into radio waves, microwaves, infrared, the visible spectrum that we perceive as light, ultraviolet, X-rays and gamma rays.

- Light

Newton observed that, when a narrow beam of sunlight strikes the face of a glass prism at an angle, some is reflected and some of the beam passes into and through the glass, emerging as different-colored bands.

- Visible spectrum

Sunlight provides the energy that green plants use to create sugars mostly in the form of starches, which release energy into the living things that digest them.

- Light

2 related topics with Alpha

Infrared

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This false-color infrared space telescope image has blue, green and red corresponding to 3.4, 4.6, and 12 μm wavelengths, respectively.

Plot of atmospheric transmittance in part of the infrared region

Materials with higher emissivity appear closer to their true temperature than materials that reflect more of their different-temperature surroundings. In this thermal image, the more reflective ceramic cylinder, reflecting the cooler surroundings, appears to be colder than its cubic container (made of more emissive silicon carbide), while in fact, they have the same temperature.

Active-infrared night vision: the camera illuminates the scene at infrared wavelengths invisible to the human eye. Despite a dark back-lit scene, active-infrared night vision delivers identifying details, as seen on the display monitor.

Hyperspectral thermal infrared emission measurement, an outdoor scan in winter conditions, ambient temperature −15 °C, image produced with a Specim LWIR hyperspectral imager. Relative radiance spectra from various targets in the image are shown with arrows. The infrared spectra of the different objects such as the watch clasp have clearly distinctive characteristics. The contrast level indicates the temperature of the object.

Infrared light from the LED of a remote control as recorded by a digital camera

Reflected light photograph in various infrared spectra to illustrate the appearance as the wavelength of light changes.

Infrared hair dryer for hair salons, c. 2010s

IR satellite picture of cumulonimbus clouds over the Great Plains of the United States.

The greenhouse effect with molecules of methane, water, and carbon dioxide re-radiating solar heat

Beta Pictoris with its planet Beta Pictoris b, the light-blue dot off-center, as seen in infrared. It combines two images, the inner disc is at 3.6 μm.

An infrared reflectogram of Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci

Thermographic image of a snake eating a mouse

Infrared radiation was discovered in 1800 by William Herschel.

Infrared (IR), sometimes called infrared light, is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than those of visible light.

IR is generally understood to encompass wavelengths from around 1 millimeter (300 GHz) to the nominal red edge of the visible spectrum, around 700 nanometers (430 THz).

Sunlight, at an effective temperature of 5,780 kelvins (5,510 °C, 9,940 °F), is composed of near-thermal-spectrum radiation that is slightly more than half infrared.

Sun

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Star at the center of the Solar System.

Illustration of the Sun's structure, in false color for contrast

Illustration of a proton-proton reaction chain, from hydrogen forming deuterium, helium-3, and regular helium-4.

Illustration of different stars's internal structure, the Sun in the middle has an inner radiating zone and an outer convective zone.

High-resolution image of the Sun's surface taken by the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST)

During a total solar eclipse, the solar corona can be seen with the naked eye, during the brief period of totality.

The Sun's transition region taken by Hinode's Solar Optical Telescope

Sunlight and glare seen overlooking from the International Space Station

Once outside the Sun's surface, neutrinos and photons travel at the speed of light

Measurements from 2005 of solar cycle variation during the previous 30 years

The size of the current Sun (now in the main sequence) compared to its estimated size during its red-giant phase in the future

The Solar System, with sizes of the Sun and planets to scale. The terrestrial planets are on the right, the gas and ice giants are on the left.

The Trundholm sun chariot pulled by a horse is a sculpture believed to be illustrating an important part of Nordic Bronze Age mythology.

Sol, the Sun, from a 1550 edition of Guido Bonatti's Liber astronomiae.

False-color image taken in 2010 as seen in 30.4-nanometer ultraviolet light wavelength

A false-color of a coronal hole on the Sun forming a question mark (22 December 2017)

A false-color solar prominence erupts in August 2012, as captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory

The Sun seen from Earth, with glare from the lenses. The eye also see glare when looked towards the Sun directly.

Sun and Immortal Birds Gold Ornament by ancient Shu people. The center is a sun pattern with twelve points around which four birds fly in the same counterclockwise direction, Shang dynasty

It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radiation.

The energy of this sunlight supports almost all life on Earth by photosynthesis, and drives Earth's climate and weather.

During early studies of the optical spectrum of the photosphere, some absorption lines were found that did not correspond to any chemical elements then known on Earth.