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If You Could See in Radio These Are the Crazy Shapes You’d See in the Sky
“Color” radio image of galactic cluster Abell 2256. Credit: Owen et al., NRAO/AUI/NSF.
Even though it’s often said that the average human eye can discern from seven to ten million different values and hues of colors, in reality our eyes are sensitive to only a very small section of the entire electromagnetic spectrum, corresponding to wavelengths in the range of 400 to 700 nanometers. Above and below those ranges lie enormously diverse segments of the EM spectrum, from minuscule yet powerful gamma rays to incredibly long, low-frequency radio waves.
Astronomers observe the Universe in all wavelengths because many objects and phenomena can only be detected in EM ranges other than visible light (which itself can easily be blocked by clouds of dense gas and dust.) But if we could see in radio waves the same way we do in visible light waves – that is with longer wavelengths being perceived as “red” and shorter wavelengths seen as “violet,” with all the blues, greens, and yellows in between – our world would look quite different… especially the night sky, which would be filled with fantastic shapes like those seen above!
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Read the rest of If You Could See in Radio These Are the Crazy Shapes You’d See in the Sky (226 words)
© Jason Major for Universe Today, 2015. |
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Post tags: Abell 2256, Astronomy, collision, electromagnetic spectrum, galaxies, NRAO, Radio Astronomy, visible light, VLA
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Source: http://www.universetoday.com/119335/if-you-could-see-in-radio-these-are-the-crazy-shapes-youd-see-in-the-sky/
