                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2024 December 1
    There is no obvious picture. There is just a background with a single
      color. This color, a type of off-white or beige, is called cosmic
      latte. Please see the explanation for more detailed information.

               Cosmic Latte: The Average Color of the Universe
           Image Color Credit: Karl Glazebrook & Ivan Baldry (JHU)

   Explanation: What color is the universe? More precisely, if the entire
   sky were smeared out, what color would the final mix be? This whimsical
   question came up when trying to determine what stars are commonplace in
   nearby galaxies. The answer, depicted here, is a conditionally
   perceived shade of beige. In computer parlance: #FFF8E7. To determine
   this, astronomers computationally averaged the light emitted by one of
   the larger samples of galaxies analyzed: the 200,000 galaxies of the
   2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey. The resulting cosmic spectrum has some
   emission in all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, but a single
   perceived composite color. This color has become much less blue over
   the past 10 billion years, indicating that redder stars are becoming
   more prevalent. In a contest to better name the color, notable entries
   included skyvory, univeige, and the winner: cosmic latte.

                     Tomorrow's picture: galaxy of stars
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

