01-09-2024, 10:40 PM
Depicting planets in true-to-life colours and intensities is extremely problematic. Neptune, for example, is bathed in sunlight which is 200 times less intensive than the light that illuminates Earth. So what would a human eye see in those conditions? Neptune would almost certainly look dark blue, but not very different to the colour of Uranus seen under the same conditions.
Consider as well the colours that would be visible when looking at a epistellar jovian world. Many such worlds are covered in silicate clouds which have a very low albedo; yet a human observer would see the surface of such a world as a brilliantly illuminated ball, due to the intensity of sunlight. To get a reasonable idea of the colour of such a world, a human baseline observer would need very efficient optical filters, which would significantly change the appearance of the world in many ways.
Similarly the colours of nebulae and aurora phenomena are generally very subtle; the bright greens and blues we see in photographs are barely perceptible. When I saw an aurora it just looked greyish since it didn't stimulate the colour receptors in my eyes. Except, at one point, when the aurora switched over to a deep red colour, a phenomenon known as a 'blood aurora' in some circles.
Consider as well the colours that would be visible when looking at a epistellar jovian world. Many such worlds are covered in silicate clouds which have a very low albedo; yet a human observer would see the surface of such a world as a brilliantly illuminated ball, due to the intensity of sunlight. To get a reasonable idea of the colour of such a world, a human baseline observer would need very efficient optical filters, which would significantly change the appearance of the world in many ways.
Similarly the colours of nebulae and aurora phenomena are generally very subtle; the bright greens and blues we see in photographs are barely perceptible. When I saw an aurora it just looked greyish since it didn't stimulate the colour receptors in my eyes. Except, at one point, when the aurora switched over to a deep red colour, a phenomenon known as a 'blood aurora' in some circles.