Hot take: those "stunning" deep field photos are mostly fake colors

I used to think all those Hubble and JWST images were true representations of what space looks like. Then I took a workshop last summer at a local astronomy club and found out nearly every photo you see is colorized. They assign red to hydrogen, blue to oxygen, and call it a day. It's basically data visualization, not photography. The actual light from those galaxies is way fainter and more uniform. Doesn't make the science less cool, but why don't more captions just say "this is a false color image"? Does that bug anyone else or am I overthinking it?

3 comments

3 Comments

colegarcia10d ago

I get what you're saying about the "data visualization, not photography" thing but I dunno, to me calling them mostly fake is a stretch. The colors might not be exactly what our eyes would see but they're mapping real physical stuff that's actually there.

blair99010d ago

That workshop changed my mind too. At first I felt like I was being lied to, but then I realized the colors are still based on real scientific data. It’s more honest to call them data visualizations, but the science behind them isn’t fake, just presented differently.

emma_jones10d ago

Totally get that feeling of being misled. It's like finding out your favorite restaurant's secret sauce is just ketchup and mayo.