How scientists colorize photos of space

Yes, that’s a black and white photo.

The Hubble Space Telescope only takes photos in black and white. To make those beautiful space photos you’ve probably seen, scientists add the color later using a technique first developed around the turn of the 20th century that imitates how our eyes naturally perceive color.

[marcisthabest]

I am an astrophysicist and this really is an amazingly well-explained video

[itemtest]

The more you learn, the more it feels like you still need to learn. Feels like information is endless :)

[itemtest]

My mind was actually blown when I saw that 1911 colorized photo. Feels like anything is possible :)

[Zak-obze]

He forgot to mention that some images need to be "re-colourised". This is because of the expansion of the universe.
For example, in another galaxy, the light emitted may begin as UV, but by the time it reaches Earth it will be IR or visible.

[BrainsApplied]

I was quite disappointed when I learned that space isn't really that colorful...

[DylanODonnell]

I'm an astronomer and I thought that was a great little explanation.

[chinmaysutagatti]

5:04 He missed a opportunity to say 'Well Yes, but actually no'.

[nguyenhuy]

Even though 90% of the content went right over my head, I'm still in awe at the effort.

[CuriousReason]

That guy was an Emir (Ruler) of the Bukhara Emirate, one of the strongest states in Central Asia before the Russian Empire annexed it.

[Pemmont]

I really want to see more true colour images of space now, for curiosity's sake.

[glichjthebicycle]

Btw the reason why an element has "a spectrum":

When for example Oxygen is exposed to a certain wavelength of light it gets ionized. After a time it looses this energy in the form of photons. The wavelength (and therefor the energy) of these photons is element specific. Most elements have multiple wavelengths. So if you look at the spectrum of a star or whatever and you see those lines on the spectrum you know that there is that and that element there

[ThexMJT]

Pillars of creation has to one of my favorite pictures I have ever seem, its amazing.

[EMCAL]

My favorite Vox video, hands down. I work in the film industry, and I took Astronomy at Uni. This is all of my favorite aspects regarding the complexity of light and color, captured, (or rendered), in a single image. The possibilities are limitless. Science and art are far more similar to each other than people think.

[muf]

As an exospectral photographer, this is very well explained and as far as I can tell contains no factual inaccuracies. Very well done, especially in 6 minutes.

[caramelcoffees]

i love the colourised pictures of space but i also think the greyscale images are quite beautiful and breath taking in their own way. something about capturing just the brightness of space is kinda romantic

[mukulkumar]

being an Astrophysics student, it feels like I’ve learned more from this video.
One of my favourite VOX videos for sure!

[ruk]

Going in I thought I kinda knew about colouring space photos but that one frame at 5:09 made it totally click! You need to completely abandon colour's role like you know it on earth and instead just watch it as the "map" to borrow the phrase. Thank you!

[ThatSilentGuy]

Actually most modern digital cameras work on the same principle as color photography from 1911. Sensors of digital cameras can only differentiate brightness and are effectly black-white cameras. The coloring is done by color filters - not three pieces of RGB glass, but a "mosaic" pattern (CFA, color filter array) covering the sensor, one common mosaic pattern being 2x2 grid of RGGB. The sensor takes a black white photo, which is then converted to colored photo by software (the process is called "demosaicing"). The mosaic color filter grid is the reason why CMOS sensor has that sort of weird color of reflection.

[jijingebob]

Can't wait for James Webb Space Telescope






I hope I'm still alive to see it first shot of space

[zaynumar]

What a beautiful video. This is the content I like to see. Thank you vox and all others who made this. Space is beautiful and life is beautiful