Section 1.1: The Term "Yellow Dwarf"

It's essential to clarify that the designation "yellow dwarf" is somewhat outdated. Many astronomical terms were coined during the early development of the field, and they do not always accurately reflect the characteristics of stars today. Terms like “dwarf,” “giant,” “yellow,” or “red” are historical and don't necessarily align with modern understanding.

Currently, scientists often refer to the Sun as a “main-sequence star of spectral class G.” In reality, a yellow dwarf can exhibit colors ranging from white to yellow or even bluish.

Subsection 1.1.1: The Green Spectrum

At first glance, it may seem odd, but the sunlight spectrum indeed peaks in the green wavelength range—specifically, between green and blue. This can be illustrated as follows:

The intensity of sunlight across various wavelengths.

This indicates that within the visible spectrum, green light is the most prevalent in terms of intensity.

The intensity of sunlight across different frequencies.

Interestingly, when analyzing frequency instead of wavelength, the peak shifts to red.

Section 1.2: Why We Don't See Green or Red

So, why don’t we notice an abundance of green or red light? The Sun emits all colors simultaneously, along with various forms of electromagnetic radiation, including infrared, ultraviolet, microwaves, and X-rays. Our eyes are not equipped to distinguish individual colors within the sunlight spectrum.

Source: NASA

Articles claiming "The Sun is Green!" often circulate on pseudo-scientific sites, leaning on the interesting fact that blue-green light peaks in the light intensity spectrum. However, such sensational headlines are misleading compared to the more accurate statement: “If the Sun were a perfect black body, its radiation would peak in green light based on wavelength.”