Tom2012 Posted December 12, 2012 Share Posted December 12, 2012 Good evening everyone. I was just thinking about Orion and wondered why it shows itself as green through the telescope? Just looked at some amazing pictures on here that people have done and there's reds, whites, silvers and everything. I know they are pretty long exposures but why, when looked at through a unfiltered scope with the naked eye, does it appear green?Thanks everyone.Tom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Q Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 You are so lucky to see any color in any nebula. Most of us never see any color in any nebula and I suppose it's the condition of your eyes (health and genetics). But a lot of us do see a hint of color in some of the brighter nebulae when sky transparency is very good. The best Ive' seen M42 was with a 10" newt in very dark, transparent sky and I saw a hint of blue-green color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rory Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 i only see grey, but its to with the the human eyes and parts of the colour spectrum . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom2012 Posted December 13, 2012 Author Share Posted December 13, 2012 Hello Mr Q and Rory. Really? So the colour of your eyes really does matter? I've got blue eyes and I'd never thought that'd make any difference. I understand the age barrier with pupils getting thinner as we age but I'd never thought colour would be a factor. Thank you for replying. Tom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cotterless45 Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I get a grey green colour in M42, can be quite spooky,Nick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom2012 Posted December 13, 2012 Author Share Posted December 13, 2012 I get a grey green colour in M42, can be quite spooky,Nick.I noticed that. It is quite haunting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmyjamjoejoe Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Nothing to do with the colour of your eyes. It's to do with the way your eyes work in low light. Your eyes become more sensitive to movement than colour, employing different cells in your retina, coupled with a build up of light-sensitive rhodopsin (which is less sensitive to red light).As a result, you'l be slightly more sensitive to the blue-green end of the spectrum than the red, which is why when you're dark adapted you see in almost monochrome, but green things like grass will appear light grey, but red things like a coke can will appear much darker.I see m42 as green too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Double Kick Drum Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 Nice explanation JJJ.I only see a grey-green hue in M42. A few planetaries have colour hints too.Apart from that it's grey all the way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spec-Chum Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I see M42 with a faint green hint too.And M57. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaveSoarer Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 I agree with Tom and Nick. I was a little creeped out when I looked at M42 for the first time. There is definately something quite eerie about the way the trapezium is set in this very obvious dark band. As for colour, it looks fairly grey to me with maybe a little bit of green. I reckon I can see some red colour at the edges of M57 at low power though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ajohn Posted December 13, 2012 Share Posted December 13, 2012 The reason for the grey colour via the eye is that human vision defaults to black and white at low light levels. Rods and cones etc see http://hyperphysics....on/rodcone.htmlSome slight colour might show in all sorts of objects if the light gathering power of the telescope gives sufficient output to stimulate colour vision. Other than colour vision problems I don't think that there is much variation in this from one person to another other than various types of colour blindness. Some people go through their entire life without knowing that they have marginal colour vision problems.John- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Q Posted December 15, 2012 Share Posted December 15, 2012 WaneSoarer - I doubt you can see any color in M57 other than a bluish-gray tint on fairly high power (which I can with a 250mm newt in very dark skies). Though your scope may have a small amount of chromatic aberration, it should not be enough to see any color fringing around such an object. My avatar of M57 is from the Hubble and only with such a large mirror and view from space will images of the red in the nebula be seen. Maybe it was a trick of the eye in your case? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Flibble Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 Can't say I've ever noticed any colour in M42 other than grey.I looked at the Blue Snowball neb in andromeda the other night and definitely saw some blue colouring in that one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaveSoarer Posted December 16, 2012 Share Posted December 16, 2012 It could well be wishful thinking on my part Mr Q. Still, it's quite a sight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom2012 Posted December 17, 2012 Author Share Posted December 17, 2012 Only witnessed M42 twice but it's on of the most brilliant sights I've ever seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan-y Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 It is fascinating how the eye works evolution never ceases to amaze me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ollypenrice Posted December 21, 2012 Share Posted December 21, 2012 Humph, no colour for me even in the 20 inch!Disgusted of south east France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zul Posted December 30, 2012 Share Posted December 30, 2012 With my old reflector (114/500) i saw m42 in blue. With my 80/400 refractor i see it gray Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astralstroll Posted January 4, 2013 Share Posted January 4, 2013 Colour or not, its an awesome spectacle and one to be savored again and again.Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiltonstar Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 In my 5" Mak at low power (x60), I see it as a pale greenish lilac colour in direct vision. With averted vision, I am reasonably sure I also see (like Wavesoarer above) hints of reddish on occasion - usually before my eyes have fully adapted and gone more monochrome. The reddish may be a contrast effect of course.Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moogoomonkey Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 I see pale green in my 200P with a 2" 32mm EP... I live in pretty LP skies as well so I can't wait to get out there to the dark skies! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moogoomonkey Posted January 5, 2013 Share Posted January 5, 2013 Humph, no colour for me even in the 20 inch!Disgusted of south east France.No colour at all??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Wilson Posted January 6, 2013 Share Posted January 6, 2013 Back in February or March, me and my family went up to the Lowell Observatory where Pluto was discovered and the astronomers there set out two 10" and 8" Dobsonian telescopes and pointed the 10" at the Orion Nebula. I put my eye up to the eyepiece and peered at M42. The view was incomparable to anything I'd ever seen. It was like Hubble but in monochrome. I was the last in line so I got to stare at it for longer and I could see little hints of reddish-purple around the core and that was it. I have never seen color in it since. I actually have never seen color in any DSO's besides the Orion Nebula. Josh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.