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Megan
Skeptic Friend
USA
163 Posts |
 Posted - 04/17/2003 : 20:34:44
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I was looking at this site that displays a new astronomy picture every day, and looking at some of the pictures, the color is unbelievable! My mom even asked if the pictures were enhanced to show the color. So my question is how is light out in space made? And how are the colors that we see made?
Here is the site:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
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~Megan~
Life without danger is a waste of oxygen. |
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Snake
SFN Addict
USA
2511 Posts |
 Posted - 04/17/2003 : 23:45:41 [Permalink]
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quote:
Originally posted by Megan
I was looking at this site that displays a new astronomy picture every day, and looking at some of the pictures, the color is unbelievable! My mom even asked if the pictures were enhanced to show the color. So my question is how is light out in space made? And how are the colors that we see made?
Here is the site:
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
I can't answer that now but you can tell your mother that I'm sure the pictures were not tampered with because I saw colors that were 'out of this world' in the ocean while snorkeling off the coast of Thailand. 'Unbelievable' is the right word. It wasn't a photo it was the real thing and it was b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l. |
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Chippewa
SFN Regular
USA
1496 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2003 : 00:23:27 [Permalink]
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Some colors in photos are artificial, so that scientists can identify regions of different glowing gasses in space. However, some of the Hubble pictures, and some earth based telescope images are reproduced as close as possible to how the human eye would see them. Usually, a good book or magazine will say this in the caption. (Sky & Telescope magazine even had an article explaining this several months ago.)
How color is seen by the human eye is an interesting question, and has to do with both the frequency of the light and the physiology (design) of the human eye. A physicist or physics student could explain the first part, and a doctor, and/or vision specialist could explain the second part. Light out in space usually originates in stars and on the larger scale, galaxies. The distant (in time) cosmic background radiation from the big bang is another form of light we can detect.
Light is made up of waves and particles (photons.) Your question might really be: "What causes a photon to come into existence?" That's a good one for the "Ask a Scientist" page on the "Mad Scientist's" website.  |
Diversity, independence, innovation and imagination are progressive concepts ultimately alien to the conservative mind.
"TAX AND SPEND" IS GOOD! (TAX: Wealthy corporations who won't go poor even after taxes. SPEND: On public works programs, education, the environment, improvements.) |
| Edited by - Chippewa on 04/18/2003 00:31:59 |
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gezzam
SFN Regular
Australia
751 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2003 : 06:38:26 [Permalink]
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There are also some great shots from The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory at sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/ .....stupid url thingy won't work here because of the strange soho before the www....
If you have a broadband it's pretty cool to see some of the stuff they have.
Also check out the Virtual Solar System at National Geographics website.
Edited to try and get the link to work.... |
Mistakes are a part of being human. Appreciate your mistakes for what they are: precious life lessons that can only be learned the hard way. Unless it's a fatal mistake, which, at least, others can learn from.
Al Franken |
| Edited by - gezzam on 04/18/2003 06:41:13 |
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Slater
SFN Regular
USA
1668 Posts |
Posted - 04/18/2003 : 09:20:28 [Permalink]
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| The color in these photos is just a matter of the amount of light that is collected. If you just looked through a telescope at these deep space objects you wouldn't see any color and not much detail either. Very few photons are making it all the way from the object to your optic nerve. But when you take a very long photographic exposure you get an accumulation of photons over the hours instead of just those that are there at the instant you are looking. This larger amount of photons carries more information with it so you get both clarity and color. |
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