Hyphen_Potamus_7

Hyphen_Potamus_7 t1_ixszmyr wrote

There are 3 or more stages at of image processing to create a final scientific image for JWST’s infrared cameras. The “unprocessed” images are literally uncorrected for effects like detector sensitivity/artifacts/cosmic rays/dead pixels/saturated pixels/read noise/etc etc etc etc. And even then they are still just raw arrays of flux per unit area with absolutely no intrinsic instructions on how to scale those values to brightness in an actual visual image. There no such thing as an “unprocessed” image in astronomy or photography digital or analog that somehow shows a more honest or objective depiction of its subject.

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