NASA Colorizes Its Photos

APOD: June 12, 1999 - Venus: Just Passing By
.... Each day a different image or photograph of our ... Venus: Just Passing By
Credit: Galileo Project, JPL, NASA. ... This colorized image of Venus was
recorded by the ...
antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990612.html cached | more results from this site


THE SOLAR SYSTEM
.... My photograph of the waxing crescent Moon and Venus ... searched out the
planets from Venus to Saturn ... Digitized, sanitized, and colorized images of
every planet ...
darkskyinstitute.org/solar.html cached

Space Today Online - Exploring the Red Planet - Mars Global ...
.... (how nasa colorized the image ... NASA scientists think Mars Observer's
propulsion system failed, blasting the ... has a battery of cameras to
photograph the entire ...
http://www.spacetoday.org/SolSys/Mar...lSurveyor.html cached


SciScoop || Unique Photo From Mars Orbit Captures Earth, Moon, ...
.... and white, and then Earth was colorized by converting ... a complete
description of how the photograph was processed ... the Mars Orbiter Camera
for NASA, using spare ...
www.sciscoop.com/story/2003/5/22/124910/033 cached

Full Moon
.... I wanted to go to the Moon and photograph there -- but the ... of the
landscape below are "constructed" and colorized from raw digital data: NASA's
"false radar ...
www.projectfullmoon.com/qa.html cached

html head /headbodypre Picture Gallery Topic Side 2 ...
.... 14-11] 1197 51395 Rings of Uranus, colorized [ETU.14 ... NASA scanner
screen [ETU.19-14] 14122 51565 Parts of ... of [ETU.3-12a] 31721 51611 Moon
photograph compared to ...
www.williams.edu/Astronomy/jay/video_vol2.txt cached

Mars Global Surveyor
.... The colorized photograph shows Earth from 86 million miles away ... today
by the camera team for NASA's Mars Global ... planet has some similarity to
Earth and Venus. ...
www.marsnews.com/missions/mgs/ cached

UFO MAN Contemplates ALL the Planets
.... This colorized picture of Venus was taken on February ... the thermal
emission imaging system of NASA's 2001 Mars ... Space Telescope was able to
photograph Uranus in ...
seekers.100megs6.com/UFOManContemplatesAllPlanets+more.htm cached

Pioneer 10 Virtual Conference Transcript
.... This is a serial photograph employs another technology very ... we had
Pioneers 6s which is what NASA Ames started ... This is the colorized version,
Ted Turner got to ...
quest.arc.nasa.gov/sso/cool/pioneer10/general/amtwotxt.html cached

Astronomy Stamps
.... On the bottom you see NASA's Compton g-ray ... have been processed, and in
some cases colorized, for scientific ... A 1949 black-and-white photograph of
Hubble, posing ...
www.wncc.net/courses/aveh/lecture/briefmark.htm cached

Aerospace Scientific Research on photos of the surface of Mars
.... Photos courtesy of NASA, enhanced, corrected & colorized by Mark Williams
.... The Cydonia photograph is a somewhat fuzzy image captured from extreme
altitude ... nasa. ...
http://www.scientific.co.uk/aerospac...urfacemars.htm cached

Sagan Medal Address
.... by journalists and media people to photograph, he just ... an ex-scientist
astronaut from NASA) who suggested ... Now, they are colorized to this bright
orange color. ...
www.boulder.swri.edu/clark/sagan/talk.html cached

\input /home/impey/text/tex/citmac (MICROSOFT WORD)
.... New image of NASA’s Great Observatories ... old 14-16, needs to be jazzed
up and colorized. ... Replace sentence ?While a photograph can?in a digital
form.? with ...
zeno.as.arizona.edu/~impey/textbook/ur2notes.doc view as html

consumptive.org
.... NASA's highly detailed color images of the "blue marble ... at 21:41. This
is Not a Photograph - works by ... setting, cable release, tripod mount,
colorized bodies, and ...
http://www.consumptive.org/weblog/ar...1_archive.html cached

html head /headbodypreNewsgroups: alt.religion. ...
.... when they arrived, they looked just like the photograph in the ... that my
imvention had significant use for > NASA and utilized ... (and colorized
iMacs) Battlestar ...
www.kibo.com/rawdata/1999/1999-01-13.txt cached

"Flying _Naked_People" http://www.rcip.com/nerdgerl/email.htm wrote in
message ...
consumptive.org
... NASA's highly detailed color images of the "blue marble ... at 21:41.
This
is Not a Photograph - works by ... setting, cable release, tripod mount,
colorized bodies, and ...
...it is all a fake...blah blah blah...prove it...blah blah blah...it is all
a fake....blah blah blah...I don't believe you....blah blah blah...it is all
a fake...

plonk

Phew!

Sally

"Flying _Naked_People" http://www.rcip.com/nerdgerl/email.htm wrote in
message ...
APOD: June 12, 1999 - Venus: Just Passing By
... Each day a different image or photograph of our ... Venus: Just
Passing By
Credit: Galileo Project, JPL, NASA. ... This colorized image of Venus was
recorded by the ...
antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990612.html cached | more results from this
site

Etc. etc.

As I mentioned in my earlier post of this morning, I suspect you are
misunderstanding the word "colorize" (which is not entirely your fault since
most of the websites you quote misuse the term). "Colorize" originally meant
(and still means when used correctly) adding color arbitrarily to a B&W
image---as old movies are sometimes colorized. I think this is the
definition you used when you originally brought the matter up. If so, this
is not what NASA does. Strictly speaking, what NASA does is "color
enhancement". A few of the websites you quote actually go to the trouble of
explaining what they meant by the word "colorize" and (if you will go to the
trouble of reading them), you will see that what I say is true.

For instance, the very first site you quote has a link to a page that
explains how the "colorization" of an image was accomplished. (And the fact
that you did not give the direct URL to this page leads me to think that you
only listed the results of a search for "NASA" and "colorization" and did
not actually bother to read what you found.) That explanation is he
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/sci/earth/index.html

Another term often used in this sort of processing is "false color". This is
a much more accurate and much less misleading description than
"colorization", which implies that color is being added to a B&W images.
Here is a nice little website that I often steer students to:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/teach...displcont.html

It goes a long way toward explaining just what "color enhancement" means and
how it is done. I hope it will allay some of your doubts about what is being
done and for what reasons.

RM

Ron Miller wrote in article
...

What you are trying to establish, I take it, is that NASA takes B&W images
and "fakes" the color in them. This is not the case at all. And before you
ask: this is something about which I have considerable experience. I am an
author and illustrator specializing in astronomical subjects (my most recent
series of books just received the 2003 American Institute of Physics Award
of Excellence for Science Writing). As an illustrator, I have worked with
NASA imaging and imagery for 30 years and have intimate knowledge of the
processes involved. I have handled the raw images as they have come directly
from the spacecraft and know precisely what happens to them in the process
of enhancement and why this enhancement is done (for one thing, it is
important to me when creating an illustration to depict a place as it really
looks and not as it appears in an enhanced image). There are a vast number
of ways in which the information contained in a photo can be extracted by
such manipulation, some of which involve converting portions of a B&W image
into color by means of filters, computers, etc. But this is done in order to
enhance features for scientific study, not to introduce arbitrary colors.
Perhaps the closet that NASA comes to doing what you seem to want to prove
is in many of its radar images of the surface of Venus, which are often
reproduced in an overall orangish-yellow tint.

If Venus is "reproduced" as orangish-yellow, what color is it **Really**?

Oh, and don't bother answering if that question is too STUPID for you. After
all, I can just dial up NASA and expect an answer.

RM

Thank you. I am bookmarking these sites right now.

Ron Miller wrote in article
...

"Flying _Naked_People" http://www.rcip.com/nerdgerl/email.htm wrote in
message ...
APOD: June 12, 1999 - Venus: Just Passing By
... Each day a different image or photograph of our ... Venus: Just
Passing By
Credit: Galileo Project, JPL, NASA. ... This colorized image of Venus was
recorded by the ...
antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap990612.html cached | more results from this
site

Etc. etc.

As I mentioned in my earlier post of this morning, I suspect you are
misunderstanding the word "colorize" (which is not entirely your fault since
most of the websites you quote misuse the term). "Colorize" originally meant
(and still means when used correctly) adding color arbitrarily to a B&W
image---as old movies are sometimes colorized. I think this is the
definition you used when you originally brought the matter up. If so, this
is not what NASA does. Strictly speaking, what NASA does is "color
enhancement". A few of the websites you quote actually go to the trouble of
explaining what they meant by the word "colorize" and (if you will go to the
trouble of reading them), you will see that what I say is true.

For instance, the very first site you quote has a link to a page that
explains how the "colorization" of an image was accomplished. (And the fact
that you did not give the direct URL to this page leads me to think that you
only listed the results of a search for "NASA" and "colorization" and did
not actually bother to read what you found.) That explanation is he
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/sci/earth/index.html

Another term often used in this sort of processing is "false color". This is
a much more accurate and much less misleading description than
"colorization", which implies that color is being added to a B&W images.
Here is a nice little website that I often steer students to:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/teach...displcont.html

It goes a long way toward explaining just what "color enhancement" means and
how it is done. I hope it will allay some of your doubts about what is being
done and for what reasons.

RM

pinkling wrote in article
et...
On Sun, 07 Sep 2003 03:24:38 -0000 in
, "Flying _Naked_People"
http://www.rcip.com/nerdgerl/email.htm graced the world with this
thought:

lameass rant snipped

Go back to the Kennedy assasination conspiracy... has it occurred to
you that you aren't telling anyone something they don't know... nor
are you telling anyone anything they give a flying **** about?


Yet your STUPID Ass read it, and replied.

Ok so for the rest of us ignorant cretins crawling on this planet, how are we
able to discern the actual colors of these planets? If I were to get a color
picture that hasn't been "enhanced", would toning down the contrast portray a
more accurate image?

And I am amazed to see how earth looked from mars. It showed no detail at all
and gave no indication of the land here. That makes me wonder if most of the
planets we see from earth suffer the same perspective.

Ron Miller wrote in article
...

As I mentioned in my earlier post of this morning, I suspect you are
misunderstanding the word "colorize" (which is not entirely your fault since
most of the websites you quote misuse the term). "Colorize" originally meant
(and still means when used correctly) adding color arbitrarily to a B&W
image---as old movies are sometimes colorized. I think this is the
definition you used when you originally brought the matter up. If so, this
is not what NASA does. Strictly speaking, what NASA does is "color
enhancement". A few of the websites you quote actually go to the trouble of
explaining what they meant by the word "colorize" and (if you will go to the
trouble of reading them), you will see that what I say is true.

For instance, the very first site you quote has a link to a page that
explains how the "colorization" of an image was accomplished. (And the fact
that you did not give the direct URL to this page leads me to think that you
only listed the results of a search for "NASA" and "colorization" and did
not actually bother to read what you found.) That explanation is he
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/sci/earth/index.html

Another term often used in this sort of processing is "false color". This is
a much more accurate and much less misleading description than
"colorization", which implies that color is being added to a B&W images.
Here is a nice little website that I often steer students to:
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/mars/teach...displcont.html

It goes a long way toward explaining just what "color enhancement" means and
how it is done. I hope it will allay some of your doubts about what is being
done and for what reasons.

RM

Once upon a time (Sun, 07 Sep 2003 17:38:23 -0000)
Flying _Naked_People took a deep breath and said:
And I am amazed to see how earth looked from mars. It showed no detail at all
and gave no indication of the land here. That makes me wonder if most of the
planets we see from earth suffer the same perspective.

The MOC camera with which the "Earth from Mars" picture was taken is
designed for from-orbit images. In other words, the magnification
for distances over tens of millions of km isn't really that good...
And yes, Earth looks like a blue dot in the Martian sky, remember
that 70% of the planet's surface is covered with water, and much
of the rest is covered by clouds. Just as Mars looks like a red dot
in the terrestrial sky, though it has lots of color variation.

Here's a friendly suggestion: Pick up a pair of binoculars and
take a look at Mars (probably around midnight is best to view it,
looking roughly southwards). This is the best time to view Mars and
_verify for yourself_ that it darned well IS red!

Jarmo

--------------------------------------------------------------------
Jarmo Korteniemi

* Planetology group, Astronomy, University of Oulu, Finland
* DLR (The German Aerospace Center), Berlin
- Institute of Space Sensor Technology and Planetary Exploration

* email: jarmo DOT korteniemi AT oulu DOT fi
--------------------------------------------------------------------

--
Do you believe in astrology? Jupiter exerts less gravitational influence
over a human body than does an angry rhino less than two meters away...

"Flying _Naked_People" http://www.rcip.com/nerdgerl/email.htm wrote in
message ...
Ron Miller wrote in article
...

What you are trying to establish, I take it, is that NASA takes B&W
images
and "fakes" the color in them. This is not the case at all. And before
you
ask: this is something about which I have considerable experience. I am
an
author and illustrator specializing in astronomical subjects (my most
recent
series of books just received the 2003 American Institute of Physics
Award
of Excellence for Science Writing). As an illustrator, I have worked
with
NASA imaging and imagery for 30 years and have intimate knowledge of the
processes involved. I have handled the raw images as they have come
directly
from the spacecraft and know precisely what happens to them in the
process
of enhancement and why this enhancement is done (for one thing, it is
important to me when creating an illustration to depict a place as it
really
looks and not as it appears in an enhanced image). There are a vast
number
of ways in which the information contained in a photo can be extracted
by
such manipulation, some of which involve converting portions of a B&W
image
into color by means of filters, computers, etc. But this is done in
order to
enhance features for scientific study, not to introduce arbitrary
colors.
Perhaps the closet that NASA comes to doing what you seem to want to
prove
is in many of its radar images of the surface of Venus, which are often
reproduced in an overall orangish-yellow tint.

If Venus is "reproduced" as orangish-yellow, what color is it **Really**?

Oh, and don't bother answering if that question is too STUPID for you.
After
all, I can just dial up NASA and expect an answer.

No...I only said that the NASA has made many of its images of Venus (not the
original radar images, mind you, but only the computer-recreated "3D" views)
orangish in tone. There is no other case where NASA has "colorized" space
imagery for arbitrary reasons. If you will re-read what I wrote, you will
see that I was using this Venus imagery as the sole example of this.

RM

"Flying _Naked_People" http://www.rcip.com/nerdgerl/email.htm wrote in
message ...
Thank you. I am bookmarking these sites right now.

Excellent! The second site is kind of fun.

R