<p>From the conditions you give, yes. Absolutely. The photon flux would simply transfer too much energy for the molecules in your body to stay fixed (the radiation would be immense). Another potential way to re-phrase this question would be: "How close could a human, without protection from any form of radiation, get to the Sun before their skin burns?"</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-20T10:50:34.950Z
2016-03-20T10:50:34.950Z
MichaelJRoberts
<p>If a human was naked a few hundred feet from the sun, floating, with no atmosphere, not affected by the vacuum of space or UV radiation. Would the sun burn him/her? Or not have any effect?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-20T01:05:04.020Z
The Sun is 93 million miles away, and yet it provides Earth with tons of heat. Just think about that: we get our hot days from a sphere of plasma an unimaginable distance away. 

Needless to say, within a few hundred feet of the Sun, most of the molecules that make up our bodies could not even survive. We would not only fry and die, we would really disintegrate (all the molecules breaking apart, leaving only loose atoms).
Sir Cumference
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-20T01:22:09.277Z
If a human was naked, a few hundred feet from a sun?    . . .  Yes, he would be incinerated, in a fraction of a second.   The sun mostly emits visible light, but too much light, even visible light will melt anything.   That close to the sun, the emission would be like a powerful laser beam, basically turning a human body into a stream of particles like the tail of a comet.   Iron and steel would melt that close.
userLTK
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-20T13:37:07.107Z
You need to clarify what you mean by "burn". In this context it could mean different things. One meaning refers to sunburn - damage to the skin caused by too much UV radiation. On refers to combustion - when self sustaining exothermic chemical reaction occur (on Earth, there's usually oxygen involved). Or did you mean something else? Please be clear and specific.
Donald.McLean
<the-sun>
Could the sun burn a human floating next to it?
Observe
# Could the sun burn a human floating next to it?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-03-20)

If a human was naked a few hundred feet from the sun, floating, with no atmosphere, not affected by the vacuum of space or UV radiation. Would the sun burn him/her? Or not have any effect?

**Tags:** the-sun

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: The Sun is 93 million miles away, and yet it provides Earth with tons of heat. Just think about that: we get our hot days from a sphere of plasma an unimaginable distance away.   Needless to say, within a few hundred feet of the Sun, most of the molecules that make up our bodies could not even survive. We would not only fry and die, we would really disintegrate (all the molecules breaking apart, leaving only loose atoms).  
> **username_2**: If a human was naked, a few hundred feet from a sun?    . . .  Yes, he would be incinerated, in a fraction of a second.   The sun mostly emits visible light, but too much light, even visible light will melt anything.   That close to the sun, the emission would be like a powerful laser beam, basically turning a human body into a stream of particles like the tail of a comet.   Iron and steel would melt that close.  
> **username_3**: You need to clarify what you mean by "burn". In this context it could mean different things. One meaning refers to sunburn - damage to the skin caused by too much UV radiation. On refers to combustion - when self sustaining exothermic chemical reaction occur (on Earth, there's usually oxygen involved). Or did you mean something else? Please be clear and specific.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_4 on 2016-03-20. Score: 3

From the conditions you give, yes. Absolutely. The photon flux would simply transfer too much energy for the molecules in your body to stay fixed (the radiation would be immense). Another potential way to re-phrase this question would be: "How close could a human, without protection from any form of radiation, get to the Sun before their skin burns?"


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