Showerthought: that photo from the Webb telescope showing a galaxy from 13.5 billion years ago might not be real colors

I was reading a post on a space forum that explained those jaw dropping deep field images are color mapped by scientists, not what our eyes would actually see. The raw data comes in as infrared wavelengths that get shifted into visible colors we can understand. So does that mean we're looking at art more than reality, or is the mapping scientific enough to call it a true photo?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_susan2mo ago

Never really thought about it that way. Kinda changes how I see those pictures now.

paigeg222mo ago

nah i gotta disagree a little lol. i think the way we see pictures is totally personal and nobody else gets to decide how we should feel about them. like yeah maybe there's some deeper meaning behind those images or whatever, but if you saw them a certain way before and it made you feel something real, that still matters. i dunno, overthinking stuff can kinda ruin the magic sometimes.