Starship Asterisk*

One way to tell which colors are more like what we would see is to actually look at the objects—through a telescope. To my eyes, Jupiter looks pale beige with brown stripes, and Neptune looks pale cyan.

I have not yet observed Pluto (and even when I do, it will probably be to faint to discern color). I have thus far not discerned color in Io, but I’ll say that Ann’s “what Io really looked like” looks a lot closer to the sulfur in my childhood chemistry set than the color-enhanced image does.

Pluto has serious stress cracks. Any theories on that subject?

The Ford is a 1949, with 1952 California plates. The ladies could have been been born in the ‘20s which means if either are still alive they are pushing 100.

[quote=VictorBorun post_id=336582 time=1706437736 user_id=145500]
what the Great Red Spot of Jupiter was in fact slightly yellowish light gray?
[/quote]

Actually, Victor, I think that the "faded" Jupiter picture that I posted is really too washed-out. The Great Red Spot has never been gray, I'm sure, and hardly just yellow either.

Ann

Still not a planet :lol2:

what the Great Red Spot of Jupiter was in fact slightly yellowish light gray?

Okay...


[float=left][img3="Colorful Pluto. Admittedly, the APOD caption of August 1, 2021, told us that this picture shows Pluto in enhanced color. Credit: NASA/Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory/Southwest Research Institute"]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2108/PlutoEnhancedHiRes_NewHorizons_960.jpg[/img3][/float][float=right][img3="Faded Pluto in true color. Credit: NASA, JHU APL, SwRI; Processing: Alex Parker"]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2401/PlutoTrueColor_NewHorizons_960.jpg[/img3][/float]
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Pluto is not the only member of the Solar system to have most of its color bled out of it:


[float=left][img3="Jupiter looking very colorful in a picture] by Voyager 1."]https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/hires/vg1_p20945.jpg[/img3][/float][float=right][img3="What Jupiter really looked like during Voyager 1's visit."]https://www.astronomy.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/02/ASYVJ1017_01.jpg?fit=400%2C400[/img3][/float]
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[float=left][img3="Io, moon of Jupiter, looking very colorful in a picture by Voyager 1."]https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpeg/PIA01530.jpg[/img3][/float][float=right][img3="What Io really looked like."]https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/130912204612-05-voyager-1.jpg?q=w_2000,h_1125,x_0,y_0,c_fill/h_618[/img3][/float]
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[float=left][img3="Neptune looking very colorful in a picture by Voyager 2."]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/56/Neptune_Full.jpg/900px-Neptune_Full.jpg?20140926142443[/img3[/float][float=right][img3="What Neptune really looked like."]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b9/Neptune_Voyager2_color_calibrated.png/435px-Neptune_Voyager2_color_calibrated.png[/img3][/float]
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Revisiting NASA pictures of planets and moons in our Solar system is like watching old Polaroid photos fade.


[img3="Old Polaroid photo after restoration. But in the case of NASA's pictures of the planets, restoration takes color away.
"]https://i.pinimg.com/originals/77/ae/43/77ae4320b3dba25f42c08fecd90850a6.jpg[/img3]


And if you want to know how Swedes made their black and white TV sets show pictures in color back in 1962, you may watch this... or not.


[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU8VQs9kxLs[/youtube]


Ann

[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240128.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_240128.jpg[/img] [size=150]Pluto in True Color[/size][/url]

[b] Explanation: [/b] What color is Pluto, really? It took some effort to figure out. Even given all of the [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150831.html]images sent back[/url] to Earth when the robotic [url=https://science.nasa.gov/mission/new-horizons/]New Horizons[/url] spacecraft [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap170731.html]sped past Pluto[/url] in 2015, processing these [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_(New_Horizons)]multi-spectral[/url] frames to approximate what the [url=https://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/humanvision/accommodation/index.html]human eye[/url] would see was challenging. The result [url=http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Galleries/Featured-Images/image.php?page=1&gallery_id=2&image_id=543]featured here[/url], released three years after the raw data was acquired by [url=http://pluto.jhuapl.edu/Mission/Spacecraft.php#Systems-and-Components]New Horizons[/url], is the highest resolution true color image of [url=https://science.nasa.gov/dwarf-planets/pluto/]Pluto[/url] ever taken. Visible in the image is the light-colored, heart-shaped, [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tombaugh_Regio]Tombaugh Regio[/url], with the unexpectedly smooth [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap161122.html]Sputnik Planitia[/url], made of frozen [url=https://periodic.lanl.gov/7.shtml]nitrogen[/url], filling its western lobe. New Horizons found the dwarf planet to have a [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap150914.html]surprisingly complex surface[/url] composed of many regions having [url=https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fxvdk3cwfp1171.jpg]perceptibly different hues[/url]. In total, though, Pluto is [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap060903.html]mostly brown[/url], with much of its muted color originating from small amounts of surface [url=https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/first-you-see-it-then-you-dont-scientists-closer-to-explaining-mars-methane-mystery/]methane[/url] energized by [url=https://science.nasa.gov/ems/10_ultravioletwaves]ultraviolet light[/url] from the Sun.


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