ExploraTour: A Peek into the Lives of the Stars
The Colors of the Night Sky Through a Camera Lens
This is a photograph of the constellations of Orion, Canis Major and Canis Minor taken by the photographer, Akira Fujii. If you live in the Northern Hemisphere, this is probably a familiar sight. But look closely at this photograph. That's right, there's nothing wrong with your eyes, the stars really do have different colors...
Many people are surprised by this.
In the right shoulder of Orion, the star Betelgeuse is a red supergiant. Orion's left knee is marked by Rigel, a hot blue-white star. And the nose of Canis Major is home to the hot white star, Sirius.
All the stars you see are made mostly of hydrogen so why are they different colors?