Why does the sun generate white light?

AI Thread Summary
The sun generates a wide range of electromagnetic (EM) spectrum, primarily through hydrogen fusion and other reactions influenced by its intense magnetic field. White light is perceived as a combination of all visible frequencies, and the sun emits this light unevenly across the spectrum. Pulsars and black holes primarily emit in the radio range due to synchrotron radiation from their compressed magnetic fields, while gamma and X-ray emissions result from the heat and friction of infalling matter. The temperature of a star correlates with the breadth of its spectrum, with hotter stars producing whiter light. Overall, the sun's emissions reflect complex processes beyond simple fusion reactions.
alias25
Messages
197
Reaction score
0
and does the sun also genrate the full EM spectrum? why does it do that and not a certain wavelength, is it possible to have certain ones, is that what dead stars do, like pulsars only emit radiowaves?
 
Science news on Phys.org
The sun does generate pretty much the full spectrum, although not equally. In addition to hydrogen fusion, there are other reactions going on and an intense magnetic field. Keep in mind that what we perceive as white light is a combination of all visible frequencies. Pulsars and black holes produce in the radio range because of synchrotron radiation from their incredibly compressed magnetic fields (magnetism is conserved along with angular momentum when they collapse). The gamma and X-ray emissions come from the heat of compression and friction as infalling matter is crushed out of existence. There are no longer any fusion reactions to produce visible light.
I'm at (or perhaps past) the limit of my abilities here. I leave the stage for Space Tiger or another expert.
 
Because it's so damn hot!

The hotter a star the broader the spectrum, the whiter the light.
 
Thread 'A quartet of epi-illumination methods'
Well, it took almost 20 years (!!!), but I finally obtained a set of epi-phase microscope objectives (Zeiss). The principles of epi-phase contrast is nearly identical to transillumination phase contrast, but the phase ring is a 1/8 wave retarder rather than a 1/4 wave retarder (because with epi-illumination, the light passes through the ring twice). This method was popular only for a very short period of time before epi-DIC (differential interference contrast) became widely available. So...
I am currently undertaking a research internship where I am modelling the heating of silicon wafers with a 515 nm femtosecond laser. In order to increase the absorption of the laser into the oxide layer on top of the wafer it was suggested we use gold nanoparticles. I was tasked with modelling the optical properties of a 5nm gold nanoparticle, in particular the absorption cross section, using COMSOL Multiphysics. My model seems to be getting correct values for the absorption coefficient and...
Back
Top