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?

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the_susan2h ago

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