this post was submitted on 23 Jun 2024
1 points (100.0% liked)

Astronomy

4097 readers
1 users here now

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

What is it with the blue/violet/red-yellow stuff?

Is this some metallic thing?

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

This image was standardised and then normalised while stitching it together, and the final product enhanced a lot of colouration. They're subtle to the naked eye, but they exist. They are reflected in the different minerals present. I've done this stuff with different imagery.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Pasted from the Reddit thread:

The colors don't match what a human eye would see, but without going into a philosophy tangent, color is extremely complex and a huge part of what a human sees is your brain doing representations and mapping that isn't perfectly represented in the physical object being observed. In this photo the saturation has been increased (versus a human eye) because it helps show the geological differences on the lunar surface. The reddish areas are high in iron and feldspar, and the blue-tinted zones have higher titanium content. Instead of thinking of the color as "real" or "fake" it's probably better to think of it as a tool, to simulate if you were a super human with the ability to adjust saturation and detect metal composition with your eye. Usually when a photo like this is shared by researchers and scientist all this nuance and exposition is included, but then journalist and social media get a hold of it and people start crying "fake" without an understanding of what the image is trying to accomplish. TL;DR - The image isn't what a human eye would see but it isn't just art to look cool, the color and modifications have physical meaning and serve a purpose.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago

Excellent explanation. Appreciate you sharing it!

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Those are great explanations!

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Yeah when you get into "proper" photography you quickly realize a "real" image is somewhat subjective. This moon is cracked to 1000%, though.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

It's true. I did photography as a hobby as a kid and it set me ahead when I started mapping. It's all the same no matter the domain.