[barx1963 (Malcolm)]

Originally Posted by creeksky

http://hubblesite.org/gallery/behind...x1963;1144733]
No!!
These are images, usually taken with long exposures. As your eye cannot do long exposures, visual use is very different, much fainter and almost always monochrome as there is not enough light to activate the colour receptors in your eyes.
Have a look at some of Alex's and others sketches in the sketching thread (http://www.iceinspace.com.au/forum/s...ad.php?t=73111) to get a bit of an idea of what visual astronomy looks like.

Malcolm

Thanks, I think...feel a bit let down now, even just read the Hubble can't see colours!
The whole universe is just black and white? Mars only became red in 1977 and Jupiters red spot is maybe not red?
Another great let down....[/QUOTE]

Pete
The Hubble Space Telescope uses monochrome cameras, but they use filters to collect certain wavelengths of light and then combine these to create the colour images. In fact that is what is done many of the images that were on the page you linked to. Many amateur images are done with monochrome (eg non colour) cameras but using filters and then recombining in software.

And the universe is definitely not black and white, it is just that even in big scopes our eyes are not good enough to see it.
Mars has always been red, it's red led to it being named Ares by the ancient Greeks after their god of war, Mars is the roman equivalent. And the Red Spot is not strongly red through a scope but clearly red in images.

Don't let this discourage you, many stars display strong colours and often planetary nebs have a strong colour.

Malcolm