Talk:Sun

The Sun's Brightness

The sun has an apparent magnitude of -26.74. It should be added to this article that the apparent magnitude of the sun converts to 98,000 lux. [unknown author]

Agreed: the article should state the sun's brightness. Yes I know it will vary based on latitude and season, but I think everyone on planet Earth can relate to the sun as a "standard candle". So I think giving it some quantifiable value (even with a moderate variance, like 96 ~ 100 k·lux) would benefit readers to gain a perspective of luminosity. Hydradix (talk) 06:52, 12 September 2015 (UTC)

There is much more variation than that. I suppose we could give a maximum for clear sky with the sun overhead, but most of us don't see anything like that brightness for most of the year. Our article on Solar irradiance gives an average power of insolation. Our article on Lux states that direct sunlight is 32 to 100 kilolux. Dbfirs 08:28, 12 September 2015 (UTC)

Edit request- "faint young sun" section

Contrary to the above mentioned section in this article,(Sun#Faint_young_Sun_problem) there is actually NO consensus for the faint young sun paradox. The paper cited in this article is from 1986, since then a number of other papers have been published which categorically dispel the Greenhouse gas explanation.

Like this one published in Nature the journal in 2010 - Examination of Archaean sediments appears inconsistent with the hypothesis of high greenhouse concentrations. Instead, the moderate temperature range may be explained by a lower surface albedo brought about by less continental area and the "lack of biologically induced cloud condensation nuclei". This would have led to increased absorption of solar energy, thereby compensating for the lower solar output.

Semi-protected edit request on 4 July 2015

The rotation velocity could be put into the same format as that of 'The Earth' which is shown as "Equatorial rotation velocity 1,674.4 km/h (465.1 m/s)"

Note that scientific notation is not used for The Earth and is not needed for The Sun either. Or it should be changed to scientific notation for The Earth, so at least it is consistent. The Earth's rotation velocity is also converted into miles/second but the Sun's is not.

Standardizing this measure makes it easier to compare Sun and Earth rotational velocities.

StreetUrchin2 (talk) 13:46, 4 July 2015 (UTC)

I'm not sure what the Wikipedia policy is on "original research". I've heard that it is considered OR to estimate, using a map, for example, the distance between cities! Still, it is not hard to calculate an approximate equatorial rotation velocity using the parameters that are given in Solar_rotation: I get 7450.6 km/hr. With this, however, we always need to bear in mind that the Sun does not undergo solid-body rotation. Isambard Kingdom (talk) 14:47, 4 July 2015 (UTC)

Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format. Bazj (talk) 14:58, 8 July 2015 (UTC)

Lead and other images

Folks, I put a "white light" image in for the lead. I know that some editors might prefer something that looks, well, more exciting, but I would assert that this (or similar) image is a good representation, as it is a visible light image and, yes, even shows interesting detail (limb darkening, sunspots, granulation). Indeed, it kind of follows the tradition that is developing for the corresponding images of the planets, again, realistic visible-light images. What I do think is missing from the interior of this article is a set of images taken of the Sun at different key wavelengths. I would suggest that these be visible, ultraviolet, x-ray, and magnetogram. Ideally, these images would all be taken simultaneously, thus permitting easy comparison of features from one image to the other. I think it is important that these images capture a instance when there are both sunspots and coronal holes, both features important for discussion of the solar cycle and solar dynamo. So, that is my opinion. Others might feel differently. I know that. I haven't had a chance, lately, to figure out how to download these images from the websites of the Solar Dynamics Observatory or National Solar Observatory websites (where they should be available). Perhaps those of you interested in exciting images of the Sun can help out with this? Thanks very much! Isambard Kingdom (talk) 15:18, 4 July 2015 (UTC)

I have no immediate objections to your new lead, but I do wonder-- is it visible light in color (usually achieved by shooting through 3 color filters and compositing the data from each filter) or a greyscale image from a sensor/filter that detects only visible light? A2soup (talk) 20:02, 4 July 2015 (UTC)

The question is whether the current image satisfies the criteria at WP:LEADIMAGE. I'm concerned that this image might not be one that readers would expect to see when navigating to this page, or that it best identifies the subject. How many people will click onto this article, see a white circle that they don't recognise as the lead image, and assume that they're at the wrong page? A big, glowing ball of yellow fire might not be the most accurate representation of the sun, but it is what your average punter would expect to see. What sort of image do similar high-quality reference texts use? If they use the same thing, then I've got no problem with it. A Thousand Doors (talk | contribs) 00:26, 28 July 2015 (UTC)

Understood. I put that image there, having observed that many editors had something of an expectation that the lead images for the other members of our solar system (planets, moons) show the corresponding object in visible light with minimal distortion of color etc. Now, of course, we can't have an image with the true intensity of the Sun! Still that image is representative of what the Sun actually looks like in visible light, just with the intensity turned way down. Many of the other images that people seem to like are in ultraviolet or x-ray, and while representative of the Sun at those wavelengths, they are not anything like what the Sun looks like in visible light. I think it would be good if other editors would contribute candidate images, argue over it, etc. just as has happened recently, for example, over at Talk:Earth. The Solar Dynamics Observatory and the National Solar Observatory are good sources of images; just visit their websites. Since I've already weighed in here, I will remove myself from the discussion and just let it happen. I've got enough to do editing other articles. Cheers, Isambard Kingdom (talk) 00:43, 28 July 2015 (UTC)

I'm pinging some interested editors (no offense if I don't ping you!): @JorisvS @A2soup @Drbogdan @Tom.Reding @Vsmith @Ashill There, I hope that helps in generating some interest. Bye, Isambard Kingdom (talk) 01:30, 28 July 2015 (UTC)

Edit Request - Typo

The "Atmosphere" section begins "During a total solar eclipse, when the disk of the Sun is covered by that of the Moon, the Sun's surrounding atmosphere."

That's not a sentence. Presumably that should end "...surrounding atmosphere is visible."

Thanks, that was a mistake I made! It is now fixed. Isambard Kingdom (talk) 15:36, 16 July 2015 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 8 October 2015

Sun is good son is good 31.109.198.246 (talk) 09:59, 8 October 2015 (UTC)🌐🙏