Everything You Know About Planet Colors Is Wrong
Scientists love false color images. When we see beautiful images of distant planets, how do we know exactly what color they are? Amy on Twitter ...
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When it comes to planets, there’s a lot more than meets the eye. Thankfully false colour images show us what our eyes are missing. Hey guys! Amy with you on DNews talking pretty things in space. Thanks to decades of science missions, we’ve learned a lot about what the planets are made of, and that has let us figure out what their true colours are. Mars is red because the rocks are rusty. Venus’ surface is actually grey but we can only see the thick sulphuric acid atmosphere that envelops the whole planet. Uranus and Neptune are both primarily made of methane, a gas that absorbs red light and bounces back blue-green light. That’s why both planets have a rich, blue tone to them. So if these are the planets’ true colours, why do we sometimes see them looking like a psychedelic vision? Because f...
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When it comes to planets, there’s a lot more than meets the eye. Thankfully false colour images show us what our eyes are missing. Hey guys! Amy with you on DNews talking pretty things in space. Thanks to decades of science missions, we’ve learned a lot about what the planets are made of, and that has let us figure out what their true colours are. Mars is red because the rocks are rusty. Venus’ surface is actually grey but we can only see the thick sulphuric acid atmosphere that envelops the whole planet. Uranus and Neptune are both primarily made of methane, a gas that absorbs red light and bounces back blue-green light. That’s why both planets have a rich, blue tone to them. So if these are the planets’ true colours, why do we sometimes see them looking like a psychedelic vision? Because f...
