Question about those deep sky photos that look way too colorful

I was talking with my neighbor Phil last night, he's been into astrophotography for like 20 years. He saw me browsing some nebula photos online and said, "you know most of those colors aren't real, right?" I thought he meant they were fake, but he explained they're just mapped to show elements like hydrogen and oxygen. It kind of hit different because now I look at those vivid orange and blue clouds and wonder what they'd actually look like through a telescope. Has anyone else felt kinda let down after learning that or is it just me?

2 comments

2 Comments

alicea2611d ago

Yeah I had that same moment of disappointment when I first found out. But then I started thinking of it like a map, you know? Like when you see those weather maps with all the colors for temperatures, nobody thinks the air literally changes color. Thats how I look at these photos now, theyre just showing us what kind of gas is floating around out there. Honestly once I got past the initial letdown it actually made me appreciate the science more. Like wow, we can literally see where hydrogen is in a cloud thats thousands of light years away.

rivera.jesse11d ago

@alicea26 I used to think they were real colors too but your map comparison totally changed my mind.