What is the true color of the sun and how are we able to capture it in images?

  • Context: High School 
  • Thread starter Thread starter DB
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Color Image
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the true color of the sun and the methods used to capture its images, particularly through various filters. Participants explore the implications of brightness, color assignment, and imaging techniques, touching on both theoretical and practical aspects of solar photography.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant questions how images of the sun can be captured without merely showing bright light, suggesting that exposure time and light control are crucial.
  • Another participant proposes that the image may have been taken through a Hydrogen-alpha filter, indicating a specific wavelength of light.
  • There is a suggestion that the sun's color is assigned based on the emission of wavelengths, specifically mentioning Hydrogen-alpha wavelengths.
  • A participant expresses uncertainty, noting that different colors can be observed through Hydrogen-alpha filters and mentions a desire to acquire one.
  • One participant emphasizes that without proper exposure settings and light reduction, images would still appear as bright light, sharing personal experience with solar photography using a telescope and a lens cap.
  • Another participant suggests that the image might be a HeII image from SOHO's Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope, explaining the process of color assignment in false color images.
  • A later reply aligns with a previous participant's view, suggesting that the image resembles SOHO photos more than typical H-alpha images.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the nature of the sun's color in images and the effectiveness of various filters. There is no consensus on the specific imaging techniques or the interpretation of the colors observed.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention various imaging techniques and filters, but the discussion does not resolve the technical details of how colors are assigned or the specific characteristics of the filters used. Assumptions about brightness and exposure settings are also present but not fully explored.

DB
Messages
501
Reaction score
0
It it isn't a false color image of the sun, then how are we able to look at it this way if the sun is so bright? Wouldn't it just be a picture of bright light?

http://www.1spacewallpaper.com/sun-wallpaper/Sun-pictures_1024.htm

Ty
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Astronomy news on Phys.org
Looks like it was taken through a Hydrogen-alpha filter.
 
So it's color is assigned to the emission of waveleghts? Hydrogen-Alpha wavelenghts?
 
I'm not sure. I've seen different color suns through hydrogen-alpha filters. Wish I could afford one :smile:
 
DB said:
Wouldn't it just be a picture of bright light?
Regardless of the type of filter, it will be just a picture of a bright light unless the exposure time and amount of light gathered are controlled correctly. I have taken a few photos of the sun using a fast camera setting and a telescope with a dime-sized hole in the lens cap. A better way is with a filter that simply reduces the amount of light let through.
 
It's likely a HeII image, taken by SOHO's Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (example: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/image/solar/eit_sl_304.jpg). If so, then it's definitely a filter (centred at 30.4 nm). The colours are false; IIRC, the technique is to choose two colours (plus black and white) and an intensity histogram - min intensity = black, max intensity = white, low intensity = dark red (for example), high intensity = pale yellow. I don't know how to create this in Photoshop, but it's quite simple to do in many other image processing apps.
 
Hmm. I'd go with Nereid on this. It looks a lot more like SOHO photos than H-alpha photos I've seen.
 

Similar threads

High School What If We Could See the Past by Placing a Mirror on the Sun?
  • · Replies 13 ·
Replies
13
Views
3K
Undergrad Why is the Sun Yellow/Orange and Not White?
  • · Replies 11 ·
Replies
11
Views
4K
Undergrad How is color added to Hubble images?
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
4K
High School How long it takes the Earth to fall halfway to the Sun--ellipse method
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
3K
High School How Can Astronomy Even Occur? (Oort Cloud)
  • · Replies 35 ·
2
Replies
35
Views
6K
High School How well do we know solar activity?
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
3K
High School Why are things the color they are?
  • · Replies 3 ·
Replies
3
Views
3K
How Does Flickering Light Influence Our Brain's Perception of Image Brightness?
  • · Replies 8 ·
Replies
8
Views
6K
Undergrad Where can I find publicly accessible data from observatories in Europe?
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
3K
Undergrad Are there gaps between the rays coming from the sun?
  • · Replies 22 ·
Replies
22
Views
4K