Subj : Daily APOD Report To : All From : Alan Ianson Date : Sun Dec 27 2020 01:00:32 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. 2020 December 27 Cosmic Latte: The Average Color of the Universe 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 above, 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 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. Gallery: Notable images of the Great Conjunction submitted to APOD Tomorrow's picture: eagle space __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP) NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply. NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC & Michigan Tech. U. --- hpt/lnx 1.9.0 * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757) .