Sunlight, also called sunshine, solar radiation that is visible at Earth's surface. The amount of sunlight is dependent on the extent of the daytime cloud cover. Ordinarily, sunlight is broken down into three major components: (1) visible light, with wavelengths between 0.4 and 0.8 micrometre, (2) ultraviolet light, with wavelengths shorter than 0.4 micrometre, and (3) infrared radiation, with wavelengths longer than 0.8 micrometre. The visible portion constitutes nearly half of the total radiation received at the surface of Earth.