Recently, I asked a question on my Facebook Group, Astronomy Notebook, about the creation in post processing of the true representative colors of an object. The following is what I have come to understand from the answers I have received and have subsequently read on the subject….

An imaged object can vary in shape and detail depending on the filters used…..Essentially I guess, it all boils down to which filters are being assigned to the different channels and for what purpose…purpose is the keyword….different filters bring out different details in the object. For this reason, the resultant variations in image color are no less representative of the true nature of the object.

The overwhelming natural color in space is green and so I guess post processing to be of more interest visually is legitimate to compensate…also because there are different wavelengths in the color green spectrum these variances in degree or shades of color can fortunately be translated by grey-scale or by filter imaging to bring out representative chemical variances in the object and the different inherent details.

In addition, astrophotography as in any art has its artistic side where one can add the impressions of its creator to the mix…a rather complicated affair.

Here is a good article which I have read on the subject…maybe you could suggest more?

The Thing With Colors in Astrophotography
https://photographingspace.com/ap-color/

Clear Skies,
StarJane