Comments on: The Helix’s dusty heart http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/02/12/the-helixs-dusty-heart/ I am an astronomer, writer, and skeptic. I likes reality the way it is, and I aims to keep it that way. My real name is Phil Plait, and I run the Bad Astronomy blog. Sat, 10 Jan 2009 01:31:59 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.1 By: Irishman http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/02/12/the-helixs-dusty-heart/#comment-29992 Irishman Wed, 14 Feb 2007 20:13:52 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/02/12/the-helixs-dusty-heart/#comment-29992 Anyone else notice the purple "heart-shape" in the second image? Happy Valentine's Day! Anyone else notice the purple “heart-shape” in the second image? Happy Valentine’s Day!

]]> By: That Neil Guy http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/02/12/the-helixs-dusty-heart/#comment-29991 That Neil Guy Tue, 13 Feb 2007 17:41:17 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/02/12/the-helixs-dusty-heart/#comment-29991 "The Hubble Site has a useful slideshow of how and why Hubble’s photos are colorized (you can play with a few pictures, too). " Thanks, Melusine, for that link to the hubble site. Great info, very helpful -- and interesting! “The Hubble Site has a useful slideshow of how and why Hubble’s photos are colorized (you can play with a few pictures, too). ”

Thanks, Melusine, for that link to the hubble site. Great info, very helpful — and interesting!

]]> By: Peter Bramley http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/02/12/the-helixs-dusty-heart/#comment-29990 Peter Bramley Tue, 13 Feb 2007 17:21:58 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/02/12/the-helixs-dusty-heart/#comment-29990 If you were at the nebula would you be able to see it? Or are the particles too dispersed to see up close and only visible because we are so far away? If you were at the nebula would you be able to see it? Or are the particles too dispersed to see up close and only visible because we are so far away?

]]> By: Robbie Taylor http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/02/12/the-helixs-dusty-heart/#comment-29989 Robbie Taylor Tue, 13 Feb 2007 14:13:34 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/02/12/the-helixs-dusty-heart/#comment-29989 Sorry if my link in the last post didn't work - it was to this Wikipedia entry for the Larry Niven/Jerry Pournelle novel, The Mote in God's Eye - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mote_in_God's_Eye Sorry if my link in the last post didn’t work - it was to this Wikipedia entry for the Larry Niven/Jerry Pournelle novel, The Mote in God’s Eye - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mote_in_God’s_Eye

]]> By: Robbie Taylor http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/02/12/the-helixs-dusty-heart/#comment-29988 Robbie Taylor Tue, 13 Feb 2007 14:11:56 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/02/12/the-helixs-dusty-heart/#comment-29988 We finally found the <a>Eye of God</a>! The Moties can't be far behind! We finally found the Eye of God! The Moties can’t be far behind!

]]> By: Grand Lunar http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/02/12/the-helixs-dusty-heart/#comment-29987 Grand Lunar Tue, 13 Feb 2007 12:39:53 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/02/12/the-helixs-dusty-heart/#comment-29987 I saw this on NASA's webpage not long before I found it here. Ah, connections in cyberspace... Moving along, it's facinating that we can find signs of comets in such a distant location. Yet another fantastic feat for the modern era of astronomy! I saw this on NASA’s webpage not long before I found it here. Ah, connections in cyberspace…

Moving along, it’s facinating that we can find signs of comets in such a distant location. Yet another fantastic feat for the modern era of astronomy!

]]> By: Melusine http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/02/12/the-helixs-dusty-heart/#comment-29986 Melusine Tue, 13 Feb 2007 12:19:52 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2007/02/12/the-helixs-dusty-heart/#comment-29986 <blockquote>I think I recall hearing that all those marvelous Hubble (and other) images that we see are all, essentially, colorized. So would that red actually look red if we were viewing it naked eye? How does all that work? Are the colors added to indicate different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum?</blockquote> <b>That Neil Guy</b>, The Hubble Site has a useful slideshow of how and why Hubble's photos are colorized (you can play with a few pictures, too). For some reason it's not formatting right on my PC, but you can click and highlight the words down to the "next" button on the lower right: http://hubblesite.org/gallery/behind_the_pictures/ It's an interesting and important question, and one that's come up here before. What color would Mars' surface look like if we were actually standing there? And so on... Stunning picture!

I think I recall hearing that all those marvelous Hubble (and other) images that we see are all, essentially, colorized. So would that red actually look red if we were viewing it naked eye? How does all that work? Are the colors added to indicate different parts of the electromagnetic spectrum?

That Neil Guy, The Hubble Site has a useful slideshow of how and why Hubble’s photos are colorized (you can play with a few pictures, too). For some reason it’s not formatting right on my PC, but you can click and highlight the words down to the “next” button on the lower right:
http://hubblesite.org/gallery/behind_the_pictures/

It’s an interesting and important question, and one that’s come up here before. What color would Mars’ surface look like if we were actually standing there? And so on…

Stunning picture!

]]>