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Thread: Why does NASA use black and white video

  1. #11
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    Re: Why does NASA use black and white video

    Quote Originally Posted by 3rdalbum View Post
    Does NASA force the telescope manufacturers to implement a special secret filter in their optics that makes the moon look grey through telescopes without changing the colours of other objects?

    Because the moon doesn't look anything like that through MY telescope. Or with the naked eye, for that matter.
    No, they built a light-filtering bubble around the planet. That's why you hear about the "launch window" when they're going to send anything outside the atmosphere. It's a literal window in the optical bubble that they have to fly through.



    Hmmm, now that I've posted that there are bound to be some nut bags starting up new websites about the REAL moon.

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    Talking Re: Why does NASA use black and white video

    Quote Originally Posted by 3rdalbum View Post
    Does NASA force the telescope manufacturers to implement a special secret filter in their optics that makes the moon look grey through telescopes without changing the colours of other objects?

    Because the moon doesn't look anything like that through MY telescope. Or with the naked eye, for that matter.
    lol

    uhmm, no.

    The atmosphere of Earth (and what little there is on the moon, yes there is some atmosphere) is the "filter".

    You an astronomer, and don't know that? lol
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    Re: Why does NASA use black and white video

    Quote Originally Posted by mobilediesel View Post
    No, they built a light-filtering bubble around the planet. That's why you hear about the "launch window" when they're going to send anything outside the atmosphere. It's a literal window in the optical bubble that they have to fly through.



    Hmmm, now that I've posted that there are bound to be some nut bags starting up new websites about the REAL moon.
    haha,
    again, that "light filtering bubble" is called the atmosphere! lol
    Jeesh!

    good analogy though, it is indeed a "filtering 'bubble'" .
    even though you didnt mean it and were trying to be sarcastic. lol

    Look at some of Alan Beans artwork/paintings of the moon.
    (he walked on it). He depicts it as he saw it.. in color.

    Also, that color pic of the moon is from NASA. lol

    They just dont make announcements on the news that "the moon is not grey!)
    hollywood celebrities are more important.
    Last edited by Rasa1111; September 3rd, 2010 at 12:57 PM.
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    Re: Why does NASA use black and white video

    Quote Originally Posted by Rasa1111 View Post
    lol

    uhmm, no.

    The atmosphere of Earth (and what little there is on the moon, yes there is some atmosphere) is the "filter".

    You an astronomer, and don't know that? lol
    It's like the sun at sunset. It doesn't actually turn red. The light is just being filtered by more atmosphere at that angle.

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    Thumbs up Re: Why does NASA use black and white video

    Quote Originally Posted by Brent0 View Post
    It's like the sun at sunset. It doesn't actually turn red. The light is just being filtered by more atmosphere at that angle.
    Logic Points for you my friend! lol

    or, like a 'harvest moon'
    the moon is not actually bright orange on certain nights!
    It is a simple illusion. lol
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    Re: Why does NASA use black and white video

    Quote Originally Posted by ve4cib View Post
    Actually, according to an astronomy class I took in university, NASA's photos are taken in multiple black-and-white stages. To get the best resolution possible they take multiple images with different-coloured filters, resulting in multiple black-and-white images. Each image corresponds to a different portion of the spectrum. So you'd have one image that shows the blue range of the spectrum, another for red, another for green, and so on. You can also have infra-red, x-ray, ultraviolet, etc... filters (which often get used in the false-colour images you see from NASA.)

    If you take a set of black-and-white images from different filters you can re-apply the colours, stack the images up, and get a true-colour image out the other end. But each individual filter results in a black-and-white image for that particular spectral range.
    ^ This

    You've got to remember that a lot of imagery in space is shot using sensors that see different parts of the spectrum from the human eye. There are actually several large space telescopes for example, and only one (Hubble) snaps pics in the visible range IIRC. The others are doing X-rays, gamma rays, and IR.

    A lot (most?) of the images you see coming out of NASA or other space agencies have been altered to suit public expectations, and isn't exactly what the original sensor would have recorded.

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    Re: Why does NASA use black and white video

    Since the moon landings NASA has learned that black and white photos are easier to fake.
    iplist

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    Re: Why does NASA use black and white video

    Quote Originally Posted by ve4cib View Post
    If you take a set of black-and-white images from different filters you can re-apply the colours, stack the images up, and get a true-colour image out the other end. But each individual filter results in a black-and-white image for that particular spectral range.
    I believe this is correct... Generally scientists use multiple colored filters and take a series of shots from each color spectrum which can reveal lots more info than one single color photo. In most of the astronomy books and magazines I read, you'll often see photos referred to as 'false color' which means the photos were taken this way. The colors might be interpretations of a computer as it adds colors to the filtered B&W images then combines them into one larger image. This is why so many astronomical photos have such brilliant photos.

    For years I scratched my head because when I watched Voyager 2 pass Neptune live in 1989 all the photos were B&W, yet years later the Voyager 2 photos were a vibrant blue. B&W layering is how and the colors were added here on earth.

    Secondary reasons are also bandwidth and technology. It takes much less bandwidth to send a B&W photo than color, plus most of the up-close photos we see of the outer planets were taken years ago by spacecraft created in the 70's - Voyager 1 & 2 for example - so color photography just wasn't that advanced. What's neat though is scientists now can still take those color filtered B&W photos from even the Voyager 1 & 2 missions and reapply modern techniques to yield new discoveries.

    Sam
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    Re: Why does NASA use black and white video

    Damn you Sam,
    Just had to give a proper reply didnt you? lol

    well done.

    though you did forget, it also makes it easier to airbrush.

    <3
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    Re: Why does NASA use black and white video

    Quote Originally Posted by Rasa1111 View Post
    Damn you Sam,
    Just had to give a proper reply didnt you? lol

    well done.

    though you did forget, it also makes it easier to airbrush.
    Sorry

    When I was a kid I submerged myself in all things related to astronomy and NASA, but I got out of it as I got older. Now that I'm in my mid-30's I'm trying to get back into it, and I've started re-reading lots of the books I've collected over the years. There was even a time I thought about pursuing Astrophysics as a career, but it never happened. For now I'll settle for being an amateur astronomer if I can only get a decent telescope.
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