N 39° 56.865 W 075° 26.079

from Local Treasures

N 39° 56.865 W 075° 26.079

In January 2002, two astronomers at the Johns Hopkins University announced that the universe is light green, specifically a few percent greener than turquoise. In reaching this conclusion, Drs. Karl Glazebrook and Ivan Baldry began by plotting the wavelengths of all the visible light in the galaxy, based on intensity, on a single chart. Then they converted those intensities into the colors that the human eye would perceive at a given wavelength. When they averaged the results, they got green.

One reason this is interesting to me is that the color of the universe is time dependent. When this universe was younger, it was likely bluer. As it ages, it will become redder. A week or two later, I heard a brief retraction of the claim one morning on NPR. The new announcement claimed the universe is not green, but beige, that the earlier results had been marred by computer error.

I reject this new claim. Walking through Ridley Creek State Park in Pennsylvania on a misty Earth Day afternoon, I know my universe is still green.