Sunshine, or sunlight, is the light given out by the Sun.

The Sun gives out waves of all kinds. One part of the waves it gives out is light. Another part is the heat we feel when sunlight reaches our skin. Those are called infra-red waves. The Sun also gives out invisible waves, including UV (ultra-violet) waves that are harmful to the skin. That is why people who expose their skin to direct sunlight for long periods need to wear sunblocking cream.

In many parts of the world, for much of the time direct sunlight is blocked by clouds. Some sunlight still gets in, although it bounces off the clouds and gets scattered. Some is bounced back to space. That is why it feels cooler when the clouds block direct sunlight. You don't get UV problems on a cloudy day.

Sunshine appears as different colours at different times of the day. It is closest to white at noon, and a much more golden colour at sunrise and sunset. That is because sunlight is made of a mixture of coloured lights, and they all reach us in the middle of the day when the sunshine passes fairly directly through the air. However, at dawn and dusk, the sunlight passes through a much thicker part of the air and the blue part of the light waves is absorbed and scattered more. So without so much blue in the light, it appears more yellow.

Very occasionally, sunlight is blocked when the Moon goes between the Sun and the Earth. That is called an eclipse.