Comments on: How beautiful space photos are made http://boingboing.net/2011/08/15/how-beautiful-space-photos-are-made.html Brain candy for Happy Mutants Wed, 19 Jun 2013 03:06:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: joe blough http://boingboing.net/2011/08/15/how-beautiful-space-photos-are-made.html#comment-1188875 joe blough Tue, 16 Aug 2011 06:17:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=113523#comment-1188875 i didn't watch the video but i do a lot of astrophotography... there are a lot of tools to automatically do registration. most dedicated astrophoto software can do it. the problem is this: in the beginning there was only photoshop. lots of people learned to use photoshop for this niche application, and so many people still do today, including the hubble heritage team. despite there being many astro plugins for PS, it's still just not the right tool for the job. but the photoshop inertia persists. by the way, anyone can download the raw hubble data @ http://hla.stsci.edu/hlaview.html. level 4 products are the easiest to work with. also see http://hla.stsci.edu/hla_faq.html. i didn’t watch the video but i do a lot of astrophotography… there are a lot of tools to automatically do registration. most dedicated astrophoto software can do it. the problem is this: in the beginning there was only photoshop. lots of people learned to use photoshop for this niche application, and so many people still do today, including the hubble heritage team. despite there being many astro plugins for PS, it’s still just not the right tool for the job. but the photoshop inertia persists.

by the way, anyone can download the raw hubble data @ http://hla.stsci.edu/hlaview.html. level 4 products are the easiest to work with. also see http://hla.stsci.edu/hla_faq.html.

]]> By: jimkirk http://boingboing.net/2011/08/15/how-beautiful-space-photos-are-made.html#comment-1188715 jimkirk Tue, 16 Aug 2011 00:51:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=113523#comment-1188715 Wait, first Apple is editing the universe, and now NASA!? Wait, first Apple is editing the universe, and now NASA!?

]]> By: Jeremiah Blatz http://boingboing.net/2011/08/15/how-beautiful-space-photos-are-made.html#comment-1188713 Jeremiah Blatz Tue, 16 Aug 2011 00:48:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=113523#comment-1188713 You'd think the registration would happen automatically. Registering images is a pretty common task, and computers are fast... You’d think the registration would happen automatically. Registering images is a pretty common task, and computers are fast…

]]> By: John Glanville http://boingboing.net/2011/08/15/how-beautiful-space-photos-are-made.html#comment-1188475 John Glanville Mon, 15 Aug 2011 19:20:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=113523#comment-1188475 What kind of unrealistic standards of beauty will young spheroid galaxies hold themselves to when they're only exposed to these computer-composites? Won't somebody think of the children? What kind of unrealistic standards of beauty will young spheroid galaxies hold themselves to when they’re only exposed to these computer-composites? Won’t somebody think of the children?

]]> By: Kimberly C. Blozie http://boingboing.net/2011/08/15/how-beautiful-space-photos-are-made.html#comment-1188401 Kimberly C. Blozie Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:11:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=113523#comment-1188401 And we get all up in arms about a few super models being Photoshopped...  And we get all up in arms about a few super models being Photoshopped… 

]]> By: MarcVader http://boingboing.net/2011/08/15/how-beautiful-space-photos-are-made.html#comment-1188385 MarcVader Mon, 15 Aug 2011 17:50:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=113523#comment-1188385 That depends. If the picture was taken with detectors in the visible spectrum many times the colors will correspond to the actual wavelengths. However no telescope takes pictures of the full visible spectrum, only certain narrow wavebands. So it's an approximation. Furthermore these wavelengths are chosen for their scientific value, say to detect hydrogen, or oxygen molecules in certain states or to detect wavelengths that pass through space dust. There are images that have been constructed with the input of many telescopes, some observing in x-ray, some in the visible, some in infrared and some in radio wavelengths. In all these cases colors are _assigned_ to those wavelengths, sometimes for aesthetics sometimes to make a certain feature stand out. That depends. If the picture was taken with detectors in the visible
spectrum many times the colors will correspond to the actual
wavelengths. However no telescope takes pictures of the full visible spectrum, only certain narrow wavebands. So it’s an approximation. Furthermore these wavelengths are chosen for their scientific value, say to detect hydrogen, or oxygen molecules in certain states or to detect wavelengths that pass through space dust. There are images that have been constructed with the input of many telescopes, some observing in x-ray, some in the visible, some in infrared and some in radio wavelengths. In all these cases colors are _assigned_ to those wavelengths, sometimes for aesthetics sometimes to make a certain feature stand out.

]]> By: Noodle http://boingboing.net/2011/08/15/how-beautiful-space-photos-are-made.html#comment-1188374 Noodle Mon, 15 Aug 2011 17:39:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=113523#comment-1188374 With the human eye much of this would be black, but so you can appreciate the different types of light that the Hubble sees, they have to be assigned colours. The ultraviolet light is moved down to bluish and the infra red is moved up to reddish, and in a sense these are their closest colours in the visible spectrum, but there is no 'true' way to represent these as colours, and you have to choose something. It is no doubt chosen to look good aesthetically, But like a HDR photo everything is actually 'there' - there is no trickery here! With the human eye much of this would be black, but so you can appreciate the different types of light that the Hubble sees, they have to be assigned colours. The ultraviolet light is moved down to bluish and the infra red is moved up to reddish, and in a sense these are their closest colours in the visible spectrum, but there is no ‘true’ way to represent these as colours, and you have to choose something. It is no doubt chosen to look good aesthetically, But like a HDR photo everything is actually ‘there’ – there is no trickery here!

]]> By: Zephyris http://boingboing.net/2011/08/15/how-beautiful-space-photos-are-made.html#comment-1188373 Zephyris Mon, 15 Aug 2011 17:38:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=113523#comment-1188373 The colours chosen come from the wavelength of the filters used to capture each of the black and white images. Sometimes the colours are "true" colours, e.g. colouring a 480nm filter channel green, and other times the colours are interpretive, e.g. colouring a 750nm (infrared) filter channel red. The colours chosen come from the wavelength of the filters used to capture each of the black and white images. Sometimes the colours are “true” colours, e.g. colouring a 480nm filter channel green, and other times the colours are interpretive, e.g. colouring a 750nm (infrared) filter channel red.

]]> By: halfpress http://boingboing.net/2011/08/15/how-beautiful-space-photos-are-made.html#comment-1188368 halfpress Mon, 15 Aug 2011 17:26:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=113523#comment-1188368 Are the colors that are applied just chosen for aesthetic value, or are they based on other evidence?  Are the colors that are applied just chosen for aesthetic value, or are they based on other evidence? 

]]> By: KyleMuller http://boingboing.net/2011/08/15/how-beautiful-space-photos-are-made.html#comment-1188360 KyleMuller Mon, 15 Aug 2011 16:09:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=113523#comment-1188360 awesome awesome

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