The Fairy of Eagle Nebula (APOD 09 Dec 2007)
- orin stepanek
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The Fairy of Eagle Nebula (APOD 09 Dec 2007)
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071209.html
The Fairy of Eagle Nebula; Wow; What imaginations: an alien beast; a fairy; I don't even see an eagle, Maybe a beast. To me it looks like maybe a moose head on top of some being. OOPS; Looks like I have an imagination also! At any rate it is an awesome photo.
Orin
The Fairy of Eagle Nebula; Wow; What imaginations: an alien beast; a fairy; I don't even see an eagle, Maybe a beast. To me it looks like maybe a moose head on top of some being. OOPS; Looks like I have an imagination also! At any rate it is an awesome photo.
Orin
Orin
Smile today; tomorrow's another day!
Smile today; tomorrow's another day!
Re: The Fairy of Eagle Nebula (APOD 2007 Dec 9)
You'd have to "zoom out" to see the whole eagle. The fairy is just a small detail in the nebula. See http://www.kwastronomy.com/M16_Eagle_Nebula.htm for a wider angle image.orin stepanek wrote:I don't even see an eagle
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The Fairy of Eagle Nebula
The Fairy of Eagle Nebula
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071209.html
"The above image in scientifically re-assigned colors"...
That description seems strange.
If it was not "we changed the colours to make it pretty",
what was the scientific basis?
"Red- shift subtracted"
is all I can think of as a scientifically justified basis
(and I think I just made that up!)
May I have a laymans definition of
"scientifically re-assigned colors"
Sincerely,
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap071209.html
"The above image in scientifically re-assigned colors"...
That description seems strange.
If it was not "we changed the colours to make it pretty",
what was the scientific basis?
"Red- shift subtracted"
is all I can think of as a scientifically justified basis
(and I think I just made that up!)
May I have a laymans definition of
"scientifically re-assigned colors"
Sincerely,
€z
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- Posts: 71
- Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2007 9:41 pm
- Location: Homer, Alaska USA
- Contact:
Let me take a stab at "scientifically reassigned colors".
I take it to mean that this image is in "false color". Some, if not all of the wavelengths that the image was recorded in were probably in parts of the spectrum not visible to us. i.e. in the ultraviolet spectrum. So then visible colors are assigned to the different wavelengths arbitrairily but perhaps to bring out the best contrast possible.
The bluish color, for instance, is assigned to emissions by oxygen. The reddish is assigned to hydrogen emissions. This would then allow a viewer to gleam science from the image knowing what gasses were located where by their "assigned" colors.
That the image is beautiful is perhaps just a by-product of the science and truly only in the eye of the beholder.
I take it to mean that this image is in "false color". Some, if not all of the wavelengths that the image was recorded in were probably in parts of the spectrum not visible to us. i.e. in the ultraviolet spectrum. So then visible colors are assigned to the different wavelengths arbitrairily but perhaps to bring out the best contrast possible.
The bluish color, for instance, is assigned to emissions by oxygen. The reddish is assigned to hydrogen emissions. This would then allow a viewer to gleam science from the image knowing what gasses were located where by their "assigned" colors.
That the image is beautiful is perhaps just a by-product of the science and truly only in the eye of the beholder.
Next stop... the twilight zone...
- orin stepanek
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Re: The Fairy of Eagle Nebula (APOD 2007 Dec 9)
Thanks but I still have trouble picturing an eagle. http://www.kwastronomy.com/M16_Eagle_Nebula.htm but that's OK It's still fun to imagine features in nebulae; same as imagining figures in clouds.Case wrote:You'd have to "zoom out" to see the whole eagle. The fairy is just a small detail in the nebula. See http://www.kwastronomy.com/M16_Eagle_Nebula.htm for a wider angle image.orin stepanek wrote:I don't even see an eagle
Orin
Orin
Smile today; tomorrow's another day!
Smile today; tomorrow's another day!