Discover the cosmosEach day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Explanation:What color is the universe?
More precisely, if theentire skywere smeared out, what color would the final mix be?
This whimsicalquestioncame up when trying to determine what stars are commonplace in nearby galaxies.
The answer, depicted here, is aconditionally perceived shadeofbeige.
In computer parlance: #FFF8E7.
To determine this, astronomers computationally averaged the light emitted by one of the larger samples ofgalaxiesanalyzed: the 200,000galaxiesof the2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey.
The resultingcosmic spectrumhas some emission in all parts of theelectromagnetic spectrum, but a single perceived composite color.
This colorhas become much less blue overthe past10 billion years, indicating that redder stars are becomingmore prevalent.
In acontestto better name the color, notable entries included skyvory, univeige, and the winner:cosmic latte.
APOD’s email for image submissions has changed. Please see:APOD SubmissionsTomorrow:APOD’s main NASA site ismoving:Fromapod.nasa.govtoscience.nasa.gov/apod Tomorrow’s picture:sky swirl