Neptune: Beauty Beyond Our Standard Eyes

[Omega0]

Personally, I would say I am a Neptune fan. This planet is extreme. Temperature, wind speed etc. I love this beautiful deep blue light from so many fotos. Some white clouds on the top, so lovely.
My question: How real is the picture I got? What if I am as a human 1 million kilometers away, how does the planet look for me? Say, I have "standard eyes", a mean value.

 

[pinball1970]

Personally, I would say I am a Neptune fan. This planet is extreme. Temperature, wind speed etc. I love this beautiful deep blue light from so many fotos. Some white clouds on the top, so lovely.
My question: How real is the picture I got? What if I am as a human 1 million kilometers away, how does the planet look for me? Say, I have "standard eyes", a mean value.

Google Neptune and Voyager 2.

https://www.universetoday.com/21642/pictures-of-neptune/

Webb may get images too at some point.

 

[Vanadium 50]

Webb may get images too at some point

But it will be in the IR and not the "real" the OP desires.

 

[pinball1970]

But it will be in the IR and not the "real" the OP desires.

Yes. I will check HST and feedback.

 

[pinball1970]

Personally, I would say I am a Neptune fan. This planet is extreme. Temperature, wind speed etc. I love this beautiful deep blue light from so many fotos. Some white clouds on the top, so lovely.
My question: How real is the picture I got? What if I am as a human 1 million kilometers away, how does the planet look for me? Say, I have "standard eyes", a mean value.

I have not seen your image.
You may like this,

 

[collinsmark]

I've observed Neptune visually, using my telescope and an eyepiece. (That way it's not subject to the response of the camera sensor or the digital media used to display the image.) I can say that although it is appears as only a small disk (very small angular diameter), it retains a very beautiful shade of blue.

 

[Omega0]

I've observed Neptune visually, using my telescope and an eyepiece.

What diameter had your lens or mirror?

I can say that although it is appears as only a small disk (very small angular diameter), it retains a very beautiful shade of blue.

Would you describe as a darker blue or more a light tone?

 

[collinsmark]

What diameter had your lens or mirror?

Would you describe as a darker blue or more a light tone?

10" (ten inch, i.e., 254 mm) Meade LX200-ACF. Native focal length: 2540 mm (@ f/10)

Various eyepieces from ~24 mm to 8 mm. A 2x Powermate (think of it as a Barlow lens) may have been involved too. So magnifications from around ~100x to ~500x.

Viewing with a lower power eyepiece brings a higher probability of having background stars in the field of view, allowing you to get a good comparison between the color of Neptune and the color of other stars in view. In that case, the brilliant blue of Neptune is unmistakable.

A higher power eyepiece will of course make Neptune's disk look a little bigger. But even at 10", my setup is not big enough to resolve any weather on Neptune. It still looks blue though. But without any background stars for comparison, it's difficult to judge how blue it actually is, since your eyes adjust to the color. But it's pretty deep blue, comparitively speaking anyway.

All that said, Neptune is a really beautiful shade of blue. It's difficult to put into words, except to say it's breathtaking.

For comparison, Uranus is bigger and brighter, and also blue, but Uranus's blue is closer to sky-blue. Slewing to Neptune, you'll see a smaller/dimmer object, but that Neptune blue just takes your breath away.

 

[Omega0]

10" (ten inch, i.e., 254 mm) Meade LX200-ACF. Native focal length: 2540 mm (@ f/10)

Various eyepieces from ~24 mm to 8 mm. A 2x Powermate (think of it as a Barlow lens) may have been involved too. So magnifications from around ~100x to ~500x.

Nice hardware. I just have an 4'' refractor but better than nothing.

Viewing with a lower power eyepiece brings a higher probability of having background stars in the field of view, allowing you to get a good comparison between the color of Neptune and the color of other stars in view. In that case, the brilliant blue of Neptune is unmistakable.

Thanks, this makes very much sense.

But without any background stars for comparison, it's difficult to judge how blue it actually is, since your eyes adjust to the color. But it's pretty deep blue, comparitively speaking anyway.

I understand, this is a good hint for observation. Psychology plays a big role for visual perception, for example.

For comparison, Uranus is bigger and brighter, and also blue, but Uranus's blue is closer to sky-blue. Slewing to Neptune, you'll see a smaller/dimmer object, but that Neptune blue just takes your breath away.

Yeah, I believe that Uranus is really felt as sort of the underdog in our solar system (I think about the movie "The Farthest"). Something like being in a loser club with Venus or so. Nevertheless, I'll try to see Uranus first and in the future, I'll see what I can do to improve my hardware.
Thanks for your detailed information.