Regarding the image processing, you should also consider that the original image is more than likely not what you would see with your own eyes. The dynamic range of your eyes greatly exceed that of the camera, and the processed image could perhaps be closer to what you would see if you were at the observation point in person.
Don't you think it'll be a good idea if NASA syndicates the pic of the day page to RSS? Never knew there was such a great collection like this... awesome stuff
"What I always wondered was that if we saw those nebulae with our naked eyes, would they appear to be more like the gray scale photos or like the colorized versions? Like, does gas spectrography just take the camera's view and turn it into a more natural view, or does it actually COLORIZE by adding in data that isn't actually there?"When referring to nebulae in particular, those shots are typically in infrared so you wouldn't be able to see those wavelengths of light. Most of the activity that looks so cool on most pictures is in the infrared or x-ray spectrum which you would not be able to see with your naked eye anyway. Its not a the fact that it would show up grey or black, you just straight would not see anything. For example:A few days ago on APOD was a picture of Saturn in infrared:<a class="user" href="http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061012.html">http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061012.html</a>The glow you see there and the glow you see in many nebulae pictures is usually the glow of radiation, either x-ray, gamma, or infrared.Typically they give different colors to different temperatures of radiation which then lead to the colorful pictures you see submitted to digg with titles with "AMAZING" in it. These colors typically are cooridinated with the elements that are present, like Hydrogen and Helium which are abundant in nebulae.
Yeah. From the Pale Blue Dot link:"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there - on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors, so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."Carl Sagan rocks hard.
hotsoup is right but I still think it's cooler to see what the original looks like, and it makes a better background because it's not as bright.in any case they're both amazing photos.
cubiczirconiaOct 17, 2006
Regarding the image processing, you should also consider that the original image is more than likely not what you would see with your own eyes. The dynamic range of your eyes greatly exceed that of the camera, and the processed image could perhaps be closer to what you would see if you were at the observation point in person.
alphaduoOct 17, 2006
Don't you think it'll be a good idea if NASA syndicates the pic of the day page to RSS? Never knew there was such a great collection like this... awesome stuff
mcgrawsfaithOct 17, 2006
ya its pretty crazy.. think that you could of been born on a station if they made one by now
lord_ofthetronsOct 17, 2006
"What I always wondered was that if we saw those nebulae with our naked eyes, would they appear to be more like the gray scale photos or like the colorized versions? Like, does gas spectrography just take the camera's view and turn it into a more natural view, or does it actually COLORIZE by adding in data that isn't actually there?"When referring to nebulae in particular, those shots are typically in infrared so you wouldn't be able to see those wavelengths of light. Most of the activity that looks so cool on most pictures is in the infrared or x-ray spectrum which you would not be able to see with your naked eye anyway. Its not a the fact that it would show up grey or black, you just straight would not see anything. For example:A few days ago on APOD was a picture of Saturn in infrared:<a class="user" href="http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061012.html">http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061012.html</a>The glow you see there and the glow you see in many nebulae pictures is usually the glow of radiation, either x-ray, gamma, or infrared.Typically they give different colors to different temperatures of radiation which then lead to the colorful pictures you see submitted to digg with titles with "AMAZING" in it. These colors typically are cooridinated with the elements that are present, like Hydrogen and Helium which are abundant in nebulae.
neaveOct 17, 2006
Voila <a class="user" href="http://www.acme.com/jef/apod/rss.xml">http://www.acme.com/jef/apod/rss.xml</a>
randomengyOct 17, 2006
Yeah. From the Pale Blue Dot link:"Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there - on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam. The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors, so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds. Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves. The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand. It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known."Carl Sagan rocks hard.
nofxjunkeeOct 17, 2006
hotsoup is right but I still think it's cooler to see what the original looks like, and it makes a better background because it's not as bright.in any case they're both amazing photos.
mcgrawsfaithOct 18, 2006
close up image of my ass here:( )( )
lindahzOct 30, 2006
wow