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NASA’s Webb takes star-filled portrait of Pillars of Creation

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Re: NASA’s Webb takes star-filled portrait of Pillars of Creation

#131

Post by magicalhippo »

ajkjk wrote: post #48

Would it be possible for them to algorithmically remove the lens artifacts? I suppose just "anything with hexagonal symmetry gets deleted". They're kinda pretty but it's sad to think that this isn't what it would actually look like if you had really good infrared eyes.

Some astro photographers use StarNet[1] to remove stars altogether. This allows you to blend them back in[2], potentially after additional processing.

As the name suggests, StarNet uses neural network for the job[3], and at least yet hasn't been trained on Webb data AFAIK, so might not do a good job there.

There also seems to be a similar tool with the same name over on github[4], but seems to be a separate effort.

[1]: https://www.starnetastro.com/

[2]: https://astrobackyard.com/starnet-astrophotography/

[3]: https://www.cloudynights.com/topic/808556-starnet-v2/

[4]: https://github.com/nekitmm/starnet

Re: NASA’s Webb takes star-filled portrait of Pillars of Creation

#132

Post by mlindner »

perryizgr8 wrote: post #130
technonerd wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Handy Dandy Slider action between the two! https://esawebb.org/images/comparisons/weic2216/

The hubble image looks much more aesthetically pleasing, even though it clearly has less detail.

Actually Webb has marginally less resolution than Hubble. Even though Webb is significantly larger the wavelength used is significantly longer resulting in a resolution that is approximately half that of Hubble.

Of course the electronics are better so some of the image capturing is better but the resolution is not.

Re: NASA’s Webb takes star-filled portrait of Pillars of Creation

#133

Post by mlindner »

dwringer wrote: post #40
nuccy wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Webb observes "much further" into the IR [1]. 1. https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/thumbnails/image/hu... (this image is from [2]) 2. https://www.nasa.gov/content/goddard/hubble-vs-webb-on-the-s...

JWST is undeniably a superior and remarkable instrument, but there has been a bit of a trend I have noticed on social media - and this may just be my perception rather than reality - of comparing it with suboptimal alternatives rather than the best image we had prior to the JWST, often making the new images look dramatically better when in fact the improvements to the best images we already had are more subtle (perha…

Well some of that is because JWST's images are actually lower resolution than Hubble in many cases (depending on the wavelength). Though at wavelengths they both operate in, Webb's will of course be much higher resolution.

Re: NASA’s Webb takes star-filled portrait of Pillars of Creation

#135

Post by OscarCunningham »

gynln wrote: post #112
OscarCunningham wrote: post #23

Is there a way to get rid of the six diffusion spikes in images from James Webb? Deconvolution or something? I guess it would have some cost in terms of resolution, but I think it would be worth it for these sorts of publicity images.

What causes these spikes? I see there are also smaller ones pointing up and down too. I don't understand why any of these are there or pointing in those directions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diffraction_spike

Re: NASA’s Webb takes star-filled portrait of Pillars of Creation

#136

Post by augustuspolius »

dylan604 wrote: post #122
edvards wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does this mean what Hubble sees is actually closer to what I'd see with my own eyes than Hubble, or Hubble's version is closer?

Ignoring magnification and only considering visible light, Hubble imagery is a colorized version of what you could see if you could stare at an object for hours at a time while accumulating every photon during that time at a 0Hz refresh rate into a single image rather than just seeing new faint photons at a constant refresh rate.

Is it possible to visualize how a human eye would see Pillars of Creation in real time? This always confused me with Hubble’s colorized photos.

Re: NASA’s Webb takes star-filled portrait of Pillars of Creation

#137

Post by jpk »

mensetmanusman wrote: post #124
edvards wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does this mean what Hubble sees is actually closer to what I'd see with my own eyes than Hubble, or Hubble's version is closer?

Depends on when you would see it. Because of inflation the color of things far away is shifting to longer wavelengths so they become invisible later in the timeline of the universe (invisible to humans).

The subject of this particular image is part of the Eagle Nebula in our own galaxy. So it's near enough to be gravitationally bound and not subject to the redshift of cosmic inflation.

Re: NASA’s Webb takes star-filled portrait of Pillars of Creation

#138

Post by augustuspolius »

perryizgr8 wrote: post #130
technonerd wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Handy Dandy Slider action between the two! https://esawebb.org/images/comparisons/weic2216/

The hubble image looks much more aesthetically pleasing, even though it clearly has less detail.

I would like to see Webb’s photo without so much lens flare on individual stars (not sure if that’s the right term). Just kind of toned down stars but the same level of detail.

Re: NASA’s Webb takes star-filled portrait of Pillars of Creation

#139

Post by augustuspolius »

magicalhippo wrote: post #131
ajkjk wrote: post #48

Would it be possible for them to algorithmically remove the lens artifacts? I suppose just "anything with hexagonal symmetry gets deleted". They're kinda pretty but it's sad to think that this isn't what it would actually look like if you had really good infrared eyes.

Some astro photographers use StarNet[1] to remove stars altogether. This allows you to blend them back in[2], potentially after additional processing. As the name suggests, StarNet uses neural network for the job[3], and at least yet hasn't been trained on Webb data AFAIK, so might not do a good job there. There also seems to be a similar tool with the same name over on github[4], but seems to be a separate effort. […

Looks incredible, thanks for sharing! Hope they can remove stars from Webb’s Pillars of Creation at some point.

Re: NASA’s Webb takes star-filled portrait of Pillars of Creation

#140

Post by wumpus »

augustuspolius wrote: post #136
dylan604 wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ignoring magnification and only considering visible light, Hubble imagery is a colorized version of what you could see if you could stare at an object for hours at a time while accumulating every photon during that time at a 0Hz refresh rate into a single image rather than just seeing new faint photons at a constant refresh rate.

Is it possible to visualize how a human eye would see Pillars of Creation in real time? This always confused me with Hubble’s colorized photos.

Scientists are unconcerned with that question. Your eye is nothing like the Hubble. Your eye isn't that useful for doing science. Hubble images are.
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