Think I’m going to have to start posting the actual images / videos of awesome NASA findings to try and counteract the fakes that go viral.
For starters, here are videos of Jupiter’s auroras as seen in the ultraviolet spectrum, courtesy of the ESA (European Space Agency) Hubble website:
http://www.spacetelescope.org/videos/heic1613a/
http://www.spacetelescope.org/videos/heic1613b/
Here are my original comments that lead me to the above conclusion. It’s interesting to me because last time a “we found something cool” new photo was released by NASA affiliates (can’t remember if it was the “First ‘Wind Nebula’ Around a Rare Ultra-Magnetic Neutron Star” or if it was the “Largest Discovered Planet That Orbits Two Suns”), the picture NASA Goddard posted was the actual photo, while other NASA accounts were posting the beautiful yet fake artist’s rendition picture! This time NASA Goddard is repeatedly posting the fake overlay-of-visible-light-Jupiter-with-the-ultraviolet-light-auroras.
June 30 at 11:26am – Jennifer Michelle German
That’s not what the Auroras on Jupiter look like, that picture is an overlay of Ultraviolet with visible light. It’s NOT really what is seen!
From NASA’s release statement for this picture: “The full-color disk of Jupiter in this image was separately photographed at a different time by Hubble’s Outer Planet Atmospheres Legacy (OPAL) program, a long-term Hubble project that annually captures global maps of the outer planets.”
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2016/24
PLEASE STOP making people think objects in outer space look different than they actually do by using false pictures!
July 1 at 10:34am – NASA Goddard
Would you prefer we not share anything with the public that doesn’t exhibit visible light? Our mandate from Congress requires that we share and educate the public. We are pretty clear about what is visible and what is enhanced.
Jennifer Michelle German – July 1 at 1:06pm
I’d prefer the actual ultraviolet picture!
July 1 at 1:18pm – Jennifer Michelle German
What I’m rebelling against is the long time use by scientific institutions of not real pictures in order to make the subjects they research or discover look more interesting. Such things already are interesting! I’m not saying only visible light pictures are okay. I’m saying just show us the actual pictures! No alteration! I want to know what planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies, etc, actually look like. Not an artist’s rendition or concept. Not a false color image. Not an image overlay. Why aren’t the real pictures our scientific instruments image (whatever the wavelength) good enough for the public? In my opinion, real images are way more interesting than doctored up ones.
July 5 at 1:37pm – NASA Goddard
An actual ultraviolet picture would be invisible to you, or just appear black if no other colors overlap.
July 6 at 12:08am – Jennifer Michelle German
Are you saying the glowing blues in the above picture are not from an ultraviolet photo? Are they an artist’s rendition then, or something else? The NASA release statement says the auroras were photographed during far-ultraviolet-light observations which are being studied by astronomers, so I’m surprised to hear from you that there is not a picture to be looked at. Also, the ESA release article says Jupiter’s auroras are best visible in the ultraviolet.