That's interesting, I didn't know that about the cones. I wonder if worldwide air pollution is changing what we see too. -- Joe --- On Fri, 1/2/09, Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> wrote: From: Chuck Hards <chuck.hards@gmail.com> Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] Stellar color perceptions To: "Utah Astronomy" <utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com> Date: Friday, January 2, 2009, 12:17 PM In a sense, but spectra don't really translate directly into "color". Spectra tell us at what wavelength objects are emitting energy, wheras color is a perceptive, subjective quality that has no real absolutes. We see "white", having a neutral tint, at a particular temperature and mix of other colors, mostly because we evolved under a "yellow" sun. There is no doubt that beings who evolved under a sun with a different temperature would have a very different interpretation of neutral "white", to our eyes. Some individuals have more than three types of color receptors in their eyes (cones). They see different colors than we do, under the exact same illumination. So, Joe, the interpretation of "color" is a strictly human phenomenon. When an observer is telling us the color of a star, it's the color they perceive, and not the actual color of the star. On Fri, Jan 2, 2009 at 12:10 PM, Joe Bauman <josephmbauman@yahoo.com> wrote:
Don't spectra tell us exactly what colors stars are? Just wondering. -- Joe
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