Hey Bizi,and Mari. They are definitely not colored in,but the pictures are taken by a very complex infrared telescope called The Spitzer Space Telescope basically between 2003,and 2009. It's main power source was mostly used up in 2009,but it's still partially operational. It captured these dazzling images with infrared optics. It could see through cosmic dust to unveil a never before seen star.

It sees In wavelengths.(3 to 180 micrometers) This is Complicated!!! The Infrared camera operates simultaneously on four wavelengths. The Infrared Spectrograph operated on 4 sub modules in long wavelengths. Very complicated!!! It also operated with a multiband Imaging photometer.

Other images are seen by the hubble telescope. The Hubble is in low Earth orbit,and sees near ultraviolet,visible,and near infrared images.

The Cassini Huygen was/is a probe that went to the Saturn system and had all kinds of special radio/radar/different antennas/ radio altimeter/radiometer/radio science subsystem/and the visible channel portion of a spectrometer. Complicated. I think that part of it is in service until 2017. I think that part of it landed on Titan,Saturns moon. The Huygens probe landed on Titan in 2005.


The James Webb Space telescope is the next most powerful telescope to be launched in 2018. It's orbit will be further out in space then the Hubble. The James Webb telescope is the next generation space telescope. Its mission is to study the birth,and evolution of galaxies,and the formation of stars,and planets. This telescope's cost is capped at the price of 8 billion dollars. How will it study the evolution of galaxies? Is it going to be up there a billion years? lol I imagine that it's going to see millions of galaxies in all kinds of situations.

BF

This is beautiful. It reminds me of the vision that Starbuck (BSG character) kept having in relation to her personal destiny.

Hi Bizi,

Most APOD images are not manipulated. There can be differences between actual color and image color due to the selective wavelength photography Steve describes.

The visible light spectrum is a continuum of colors from violet to red. Every hue of color corresponds to a different wavelength. Ultraviolet and infrared are not in the visible spectrum and do not correspond naturally to visible colors. UV has wavelengths shorter than visible violet, while IR has wavelengths longer than visible red.

When you take pictures that filter out certain wavelengths, image hue can be lightened, darkened, or shifted. In addition the reproduction of ultraviolet and infrared light as a colored area will alter hues in the resultant photo, or produce color where the naked eye would see none (since IR and UV are not visible to us). Again this is not due to image manipulation or "coloring" but due to the way light is captured.

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Occasionally, there are images on APOD that are not photos, but artistic compositions based on photos. The descriptions I have seen of these are very explicit and indicate how the composition was created.

waves

This is a cool chart on the size of planets,and stars. Some stars are super giant,big time.

2013 June 06: Star Size Comparisons

I saw this a couple of years ago. I guess they recirculate them at times.
It's very cool though.

BF

Here is the link.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap130606.html

This is cool.

Mari

Loved the sizes. Makes us kinda small doesn't it? ginnie

Ginnie Yes. With that tiny speck at the end being Earth,over a super giant star,the earth is very small,but unique. BF

great! we are so small compared to the bigger picture!
life!~
bizi

What amazes me even more is just how unique we really are. They have not found anything like us so far. Galise (spelling) is the closest I think.

Right now I am doing a spiral universe in mosaics. It is a life project. Stands about 5 feet tall and spirals down. The hand of God is up at the top with E=MC2, and our DNA at the bottom, with the thin blue line of atmostphere. It will take another two years to complete I bet. Could not work outward and flat like we are, so I did it this way. Will send some pictures when one side is completed. A weather vein is the understructure, scupture wire wrapped around, then clay to make it rounder. All done with glass beads and re-cycled glass. Elements of Gold, silver, titanium, copper, etc are also in it. It will be on exhibition at a local gallery who already said they want it. Can't work for long segments of time with my neck, so I go very very slowly. I also have sting theory, and M theory represented. Somehow I have to figure a way to get the higgs field in there too. Any ideas how I can do that? What else should I represent in it? Ideas are welcome. ginnie

can't wait to see pictures of it...we could see your progress...ie. I can't wait till it is finished! please?
bizi