Comments on: The Colors Of Summer – Albireo and Ras Algethi By Dietmar Hager http://www.universetoday.com/2008/08/04/the-colors-of-summer-albireo-and-ras-algethi-by-dietmar-hager/ Space and astronomy news Sun, 8 Nov 2009 10:14:11 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 hourly 1 By: Tammy Plotner http://www.universetoday.com/2008/08/04/the-colors-of-summer-albireo-and-ras-algethi-by-dietmar-hager/comment-page-1/#comment-28924 Tammy Plotner Thu, 07 Aug 2008 19:23:36 +0000 http://www.universetoday.com/?p=16452#comment-28924 LOL! I've also heard it called the Michigan Star, too... But here in Oh Hi Oh, that's dangerous!! ;) LOL! I've also heard it called the Michigan Star, too… But here in Oh Hi Oh, that's dangerous!! ;)

]]> By: Tom http://www.universetoday.com/2008/08/04/the-colors-of-summer-albireo-and-ras-algethi-by-dietmar-hager/comment-page-1/#comment-28793 Tom Wed, 06 Aug 2008 17:26:22 +0000 http://www.universetoday.com/?p=16452#comment-28793 While helping out for public nights on campus at the University of Florida, we call Albireo the Gator Star. Needless to say, all of our guests see orange and blue! While helping out for public nights on campus at the University of Florida, we call Albireo the Gator Star. Needless to say, all of our guests see orange and blue!

]]> By: Dietmar Hager http://www.universetoday.com/2008/08/04/the-colors-of-summer-albireo-and-ras-algethi-by-dietmar-hager/comment-page-1/#comment-28686 Dietmar Hager Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:52:59 +0000 http://www.universetoday.com/?p=16452#comment-28686 hello folks, Tammy, your story is intriguingly interesting! also what you sa about your experience with people's high varying "color-perception"-abilities happens to meet my own experiences over 20 years of public educational work in the club's observatory (Linz). young perceive color more easy than older people do...not only because their eyes are "fresh", older people are biased in color-perception: this is due to individual experience as we always compare "new" things with what we have sensed in this world in our lives. the association to a certain color must therefor be different from one individual to another. "my red is not your red",...besides a broad variation in optical physiology, including partial blindness to certain colors, different "pre-processing" in the retina (retina actually analyzes the data being cast onto it for hue, saturation and luminosity of the image. also a form of deconvolution and contrast enhancement is taking place in the retinal cells. the physiology of retianl cell-biology is still not completely revealed. but if you consider a human eye holds about 100-130 million optical sensors (you could call them pixels) it is quite clear, a pre-processing has to take place, that leads to a intelligent data reduction which is essential! otheriwse the optical nerve, that projects the data acquired in the eye to brain would have to be 130 times larger in diamter than it is! that would make our human heads quite "different" as the optical nerve would hold a diamter of about one arm! and the brain would completely overflooded and overloaded with data to analyze, as an image is created 28 times a second (smallest possible amount of assertion of human's awareness). and this pre-rpocessing is to be learned over a periode in our growth as children,...so again - highly variable as we are individuals. again: my red is not your red. best regards, dietmar hello folks,

Tammy, your story is intriguingly interesting!
also what you sa about your experience with people's high varying "color-perception"-abilities happens to meet my own experiences over 20 years of public educational work in the club's observatory (Linz).
young perceive color more easy than older people do…not only because their eyes are "fresh", older people are biased in color-perception: this is due to individual experience as we always compare "new" things with what we have sensed in this world in our lives. the association to a certain color must therefor be different from one individual to another. "my red is not your red",…besides a broad variation in optical physiology, including partial blindness to certain colors, different "pre-processing" in the retina (retina actually analyzes the data being cast onto it for hue, saturation and luminosity of the image. also a form of deconvolution and contrast enhancement is taking place in the retinal cells. the physiology of retianl cell-biology is still not completely revealed. but if you consider a human eye holds about 100-130 million optical sensors (you could call them pixels) it is quite clear, a pre-processing has to take place, that leads to a intelligent data reduction which is essential! otheriwse the optical nerve, that projects the data acquired in the eye to brain would have to be 130 times larger in diamter than it is! that would make our human heads quite "different" as the optical nerve would hold a diamter of about one arm! and the brain would completely overflooded and overloaded with data to analyze, as an image is created 28 times a second (smallest possible amount of assertion of human's awareness).
and this pre-rpocessing is to be learned over a periode in our growth as children,…so again – highly variable as we are individuals.
again: my red is not your red.
best regards,
dietmar

]]> By: BrianV http://www.universetoday.com/2008/08/04/the-colors-of-summer-albireo-and-ras-algethi-by-dietmar-hager/comment-page-1/#comment-28651 BrianV Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:34:43 +0000 http://www.universetoday.com/?p=16452#comment-28651 Many find it hard to see color in stars. Apparently, it's harder for the eye to see color in tightly-focused objects. Try de-focusing a double star a little bit... the color jumps right out! Not far from Ras Algethi, you'll find another great double star: 70 Ophiuchi. It's only 16 light year away, but the two components are close enough together to make a complete revolution in 88 years... pretty fast for a double star. The colors look gold-yellow in the brighter component, and reddish in the fainter component. Very nice! Many find it hard to see color in stars. Apparently, it's harder for the eye to see color in tightly-focused objects. Try de-focusing a double star a little bit… the color jumps right out!

Not far from Ras Algethi, you'll find another great double star: 70 Ophiuchi. It's only 16 light year away, but the two components are close enough together to make a complete revolution in 88 years… pretty fast for a double star. The colors look gold-yellow in the brighter component, and reddish in the fainter component. Very nice!

]]> By: Hugh http://www.universetoday.com/2008/08/04/the-colors-of-summer-albireo-and-ras-algethi-by-dietmar-hager/comment-page-1/#comment-28618 Hugh Tue, 05 Aug 2008 04:07:35 +0000 http://www.universetoday.com/?p=16452#comment-28618 What all this points out to me, is that "seeing" is all very subjective. I once asked my grand daughter if she had seen any colored stars. She replied that there was no such thing. I told her just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not there. I once had a friend who had 20/10 vision, I didn't believe him. Then he read the small print off a sign 30 feet away, I was dumbfounded. What all this points out to me, is that "seeing" is all very subjective. I once asked my grand daughter if she had seen any colored stars. She replied that there was no such thing. I told her just because you don't see it doesn't mean it's not there. I once had a friend who had 20/10 vision, I didn't believe him. Then he read the small print off a sign 30 feet away, I was dumbfounded.

]]> By: Tammy Plotner http://www.universetoday.com/2008/08/04/the-colors-of-summer-albireo-and-ras-algethi-by-dietmar-hager/comment-page-1/#comment-28582 Tammy Plotner Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:04:01 +0000 http://www.universetoday.com/?p=16452#comment-28582 I would be very curious if we have any optometrists out there. I have asked many people over the years to tell me what they see and I find that more often than not women tend to perceive color where men do not. Young folks usually pick up on the color - but not always unless it is a deep one like Albireo. It has been my experience with people over the years that the age distinction doesn't seem to matter in women... women see color more frequently than men no matter what the age - while small children almost always see color! Maybe it has more to do with the open-ness of mind than with perception... But even I have difficulty with that! I have read where about 10% of women may possibly have an extra color receptor - which could very well be true. My peers have often accused me of having "spectra eyesight" because I can sometimes perceive things they can't. And it isn't because I'm a better observer - it's just because I can see it. I would be very curious if we have any optometrists out there. I have asked many people over the years to tell me what they see and I find that more often than not women tend to perceive color where men do not. Young folks usually pick up on the color – but not always unless it is a deep one like Albireo.

It has been my experience with people over the years that the age distinction doesn't seem to matter in women… women see color more frequently than men no matter what the age – while small children almost always see color!

Maybe it has more to do with the open-ness of mind than with perception… But even I have difficulty with that!

I have read where about 10% of women may possibly have an extra color receptor – which could very well be true. My peers have often accused me of having "spectra eyesight" because I can sometimes perceive things they can't. And it isn't because I'm a better observer – it's just because I can see it.

]]> By: dollhopf http://www.universetoday.com/2008/08/04/the-colors-of-summer-albireo-and-ras-algethi-by-dietmar-hager/comment-page-1/#comment-28580 dollhopf Mon, 04 Aug 2008 19:27:03 +0000 http://www.universetoday.com/?p=16452#comment-28580 Visual perception of most animals differs strongly from human seeing. For example, bees are capable to receipt in ultraviolet, some sorts of snakes percept infrared. Some nocturnal animals are more sensitive to light, while most birds of prey see sharper and magnified. What aspects of a clear night sky they all might realize that we only can experience with the help of elaborated astronomical tools? They all should have a very different view on the stars and on that nothingness in between, which is just darkness for our eyes. Maybe their night sky sparkles in a dance of colours? Visual perception of most animals differs strongly from human seeing. For example, bees are capable to receipt in ultraviolet, some sorts of snakes percept infrared. Some nocturnal animals are more sensitive to light, while most birds of prey see sharper and magnified.

What aspects of a clear night sky they all might realize that we only can experience with the help of elaborated astronomical tools? They all should have a very different view on the stars and on that nothingness in between, which is just darkness for our eyes. Maybe their night sky sparkles in a dance of colours?

]]> By: Nephish777 http://www.universetoday.com/2008/08/04/the-colors-of-summer-albireo-and-ras-algethi-by-dietmar-hager/comment-page-1/#comment-28573 Nephish777 Mon, 04 Aug 2008 18:48:43 +0000 http://www.universetoday.com/?p=16452#comment-28573 About 40 to 45 years ago, I could stand in a shaded area of my back yard and at times see the Milkyway and color in some stars. (This was within the city limits of Akron Ohio (city of about 200,000.) Now I am lucky to see 1st or 2nd magnatude stars and I live about a mile farther from the center of the city. With diffeerent people seeing different colors in the stars, perhaps cateracts could be a factor. I have cateracts that do not blur my vision but a making the lens a yellow or brown color. This would act like a yellow filter, reducing the blues a violets. I also wonfer if the rods in the retina could be tuned a little different in different people. About 40 to 45 years ago, I could stand in a shaded area of my back yard and at times see the Milkyway and color in some stars. (This was within the city limits of Akron Ohio (city of about 200,000.) Now I am lucky to see 1st or 2nd magnatude stars and I live about a mile farther from the center of the city.

With diffeerent people seeing different colors in the stars, perhaps cateracts could be a factor. I have cateracts that do not blur my vision but a making the lens a yellow or brown color. This would act like a yellow filter, reducing the blues a violets.

I also wonfer if the rods in the retina could be tuned a little different in different people.

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