average color of the universe

Average color of the universe

Cosmic latte

Color coordinates
Hex triplet	#FFF8E7
HSV (h, s, v)	(40°, 9.4%, 90%)
sRGB^B (r, g, b)	(255, 248, 231)
Source	JHU
ISCC–NBS descriptor	Pale yellow green
B: Normalized to [0–255] (byte) H: Normalized to [0–100] (hundred)
Due to flawed calculations, the average color of the universe was originally thought to be turquoise.^[1]
Cosmic spectrum green

Cosmic latte is the average color of the universe, found by a team of astronomers from Johns Hopkins University. In 2002, Karl Glazebrook and Ivan Baldry determined that the average color of the universe was a greenish white, but they soon corrected their analysis in a 2003 paper in which they reported that their survey of the light from over 200,000 galaxies averaged to a slightly beigeish white.^[2] The hex triplet value for cosmic latte is #FFF8E7.

Discovery of the color [edit]

Finding the average color of the universe was not the focus of the study. Rather, the study examined spectral analysis of different galaxies to study star formation. Like Fraunhofer lines, the dark lines displayed in the study's spectral ranges display older and younger stars and allow Glazebrook and Baldry to determine the age of different galaxies and star systems. What the study revealed is that the overwhelming majority of stars formed about 5 billion years ago. Because these stars would have been "brighter" in the past, the color of the universe changes over time shifting from blue to red as more blue stars change to yellow and eventually red giants.

As light from distant galaxies reaches the Earth, the average "color of the universe" (as seen from Earth) tends towards pure white, due to the light coming from the stars when they were much younger and bluer.^[3]

Naming of the color [edit]

The corrected color was initially published on the Johns Hopkins News website and updated on the team's initial announcement.^[4] Multiple news outlets, including NPR and BBC, displayed the color in stories^[5] and some relayed the request by Glazebrook on the announcement asking for suggestions for names, jokingly adding all were welcome as long as they were not "beige".^[6] ^[1]

These were the results of a vote of the JHU astronomers involved based on the new color:^[7]

Color name	Credit	Votes
Cosmic Latte	Peter Drum	6
Cappuccino Cosmico	Peter Drum	17
Big Bang Buff/Blush/Beige	Several entrants	13
Cosmic Cream	Several entrants	8
Astronomer Green	Unknown	8
Astronomer Almond	Lisa Rose	7
Skyvory	Michael Howard	7
Univeige	Several entrants	6
Cosmic Khaki	Unknown	5
Primordial Clam Chowder	Unknown	4

Though Drum's suggestion of "cappuccino cosmico" received the most votes, the researchers favored Drum's other suggestion, "cosmic latte". "Latte" means "Milk" in Italian, Galileo's native language, and the similar "Latteo" means "Milky", similar to the Italian term for the Milky Way, "Via Lattea". They enjoyed the fact that the color would be similar to the Milky Way's average color as well, as it is part of the sum of the universe.^[7] ^[8] They also claimed to be "caffeine biased".^[3]

References [edit]

^ ^a ^b Associated Press (8 March 2002). "Universe: Beige, not Turquoise". Wired. Archived from the original on 24 July 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
^ Baldry, Ivan K.; Glazebrook, Karl; Baugh, Carlton M.; Bland‐hawthorn, Joss; Bridges, Terry; Cannon, Russell; Cole, Shaun; Colless, Matthew; Collins, Chris (2002). "The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey: Constraints on Cosmic Star Formation History from the Cosmic Spectrum". The Astrophysical Journal (published 20 April 2002). 569 (2): 582–594. arXiv:astro-ph/0110676. Bibcode:2002ApJ...569..582B. doi:10.1086/339477. S2CID 54838840.
^ ^a ^b Glazebrook, Karl; Baldry, Ivan (28 December 2004). "The Cosmic Spectrum". Astrophysics Research Institute. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
^ "Color of the Universe Corrected by Astronomers" (Press release). Astrophysics Research Institute. Johns Hopkins University Office of News and Information. 7 March 2002. Retrieved 26 August 2020.
^ Valentine, Vikki (7 March 2002). "The Color of the Universe Is..." NPR . Retrieved 17 August 2017.
^ "Universe is off colour". BBC. 8 March 2002. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
^ ^a ^b "The Cosmic Spectrum". 5 October 2002. Archived from the original on 5 October 2002. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
^ Vedantam, Shankar; Kaufman, Marc; Stein, Rob (1 July 2002). "Not Just a Milky Way Anymore - Science". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 17 August 2017.