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APOD: 2024 December 1 Á Cosmic Latte: The Average Color of the Universe
Explanation:
What color is the universe?
More precisely, if the
entire sky were smeared out,
what color would the final mix be?
This whimsical question
came up when trying to determine
what stars are commonplace in nearby galaxies.
The answer, depicted here,
is a conditionally perceived shade of
beige.
In computer parlance: #FFF8E7.
To determine this, astronomers computationally averaged
the light emitted by one of the larger samples of
galaxies analyzed: the 200,000
galaxies of the
2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey.
The resulting
cosmic spectrum has some emission in all parts of the
electromagnetic spectrum, but a single perceived composite color.
This color has become much less blue over
the past 10 billion years,
indicating that redder stars are becoming
more
prevalent.
In a contest to better name the color, notable entries
included skyvory, univeige, and the winner:
cosmic latte.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: universe
Publications with words: universe
See also:
- APOD: 2024 October 20 Á Dark Matter in a Simulated Universe
- APOD: 2024 July 1 Á Time Spiral
- APOD: 2023 December 31 Á Illustris: A Simulation of the Universe
- APOD: 2023 July 5 Á A Map of the Observable Universe
- APOD: 2023 June 29 Á A Message from the Gravitational Universe
- APOD: 2023 June 4 Á Color the Universe
- Video: Powers of Ten