Insights Blog
-- Browse All Articles --
Physics Articles
Physics Tutorials
Physics Guides
Physics FAQ
Math Articles
Math Tutorials
Math Guides
Math FAQ
Education Articles
Education Guides
Bio/Chem Articles
Technology Guides
Computer Science Tutorials
Forums
Classical Physics
Quantum Physics
Quantum Interpretations
Special and General Relativity
Atomic and Condensed Matter
Nuclear and Particle Physics
Beyond the Standard Model
Cosmology
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Other Physics Topics
Trending
Featured Threads
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Classical Physics
Quantum Physics
Quantum Interpretations
Special and General Relativity
Atomic and Condensed Matter
Nuclear and Particle Physics
Beyond the Standard Model
Cosmology
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Other Physics Topics
Menu
Log in
Register
Navigation
More options
Contact us
Close Menu
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Forums
Astronomy and Cosmology
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Diffraction Effects and Artifacts in Telescopes like the JWST
Reply to thread
Message
[QUOTE="Devin-M, post: 6814676, member: 683547"] I believe the JWST is operating at 32 bit monochrome. At least that’s what the FITS files are. When you first open the file, the only part that’s non-linear is the “black spots” at the centers of the brightest stars. Whenever a pixel becomes saturated it turns black, counterintuitively. When you first open any of the files, all or almost all of them appear totally black on the computer monitor. In order to see any of the stars, galaxies and nebulae, you have to “histogram stretch” the data. That’s the point where the data becomes non-linear and processing comes into play. If you don't stretch the data you won’t see anything. That’s because JPG files and computer monitors only display 256 levels of brightness (8-bit per color channel) while 32 bit files record 4,294,967,295 levels of brightness, so when you stretch the data you’re essentially choosing which of the 4,294,967,295 colors to “throw away” because you can only keep 256 (and then you’re re-mapping those remaining 256 brightnesses to the ones your monitor can show). So basically the JWST records the data linearly but if you keep it that way you can’t actually “see” anything. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Post reply
Forums
Astronomy and Cosmology
Astronomy and Astrophysics
Diffraction Effects and Artifacts in Telescopes like the JWST
Back
Top