Videos and Slides
These resources are from a teacher workshop on this investigation. They include a talk (15 minute video) from an expert in constructing astronomical color images and the accompanying talk visuals (speaker slides).
Video: Travis Rector, "Coloring the Universe"
Speaker slides (PowerPoint download)
Options for Extended Exploration
- Blind and low vision persons “see” an online image by using a technology known as “alt text”. Alt text is the written text that is used by screen-reading tools to describe images to visually impaired readers. Challenge students to write a detailed alt text image so that a blind person could examine its unique features.
An interesting follow up is to give an alt text description a sighted person and have them attempt to recreate the image from the details provided in alt text. See this link for more details about writing alt text for the JWST. - Create an image using a chromatic ordering scheme to produce an optimal way for displaying information to a person who has a variation of red-green colorblindness, either protanopia (red can’t be seen), or deuteranopia (green can’t be seen). You can use this website to check the effectiveness of your image color choices.
- Students can design a three color (red-green-blue) light mixing device. This could be as simple as using flashlights with three colors of cellophane attached to them. They next create a chart showing which colors are produced from combinations of two lights, then all three. Next, have them experiment with color mixing six colors, such as with Rubin Observatory images. What challenges are associated with going from the RGB color mixer to a six color mixer? What advantages does the six color mixer have over the three color mixer?
Make Your Own Rubin Voices Trading Card
Use this activity:
- To encourage students to imagine themselves in a STEAM career.
- To Introduce the variety of occupations involved in Observatory operations.
- As a "get to know you" activity