What Colour Is… The Universe?
It’s probably not what you think but it makes perfect sense!
This isn’t the post I was going to write this week and it’s a little off-piste but bear with.
I was actually researching something else but in typing in the search term ‘cosmic colour’ I discovered the colour of the universe and so, being your Cosmic Colour Consultant, I thought it would be quite fun to share it with you.
AI generated image courtesy of Pixabay
The Cosmic Spectrum
When you think of the universe, what colours come to mind? Black? A deep indigo blue? Purple? Even red, perhaps.
We’ve all seen the photos from Hubble and the JWST showing kaleidoscopic galaxies and the colourful explosions that occur during star formation.
So you might be surprised to learn that, way back in 2002*, astronomers Ivan Baldry and Karl Glazebrook discovered the average colour of the universe - and it’s none of the above.
The 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey was carried out with the intention of studying star formation but in doing so (capturing the visible spectra of some 200,000 galaxies in the process) they were also able to create the ‘cosmic spectrum’ which “represents all the sum of all the energy in the local volume of the universe emitted at different optical wavelengths of light.”
So what colour is the universe?
Using a colour-matching computer program they were then able to translate the energy emitted into a visible spectrum. Then they combined all the colours in the cosmic spectrum to produce the average colour that is visible to the human eye, ie. “the colour an observer would see if they had the Universe in a box, and could see all the light at once.”
That colour is…magnolia.
Or, to give it it’s more marketable Farrow and Ball-esque name, Cosmic Latte.
Cosmic Latte, the colour of the Universe. (Hex code #FFF8E7)
It is rather underwhelming from a chromatic point of view but given that all colours combined (in the additive colour model) give us white, it should come as no surprise that the average colour of the universe is this shade of…vanilla.
Perhaps the fact that our place in space is in a galaxy called The Milky Way should have given us a clue.
However, if you think about it from a spiritual perspective, it makes total sense. Of course the colour of the universe is white.
A Cosmic Latte to go, please…
White is, of course, associated with peace, purity and cleanliness. It is the colour that inspires new ideas and clarity of thought. It literally is the colour of everything.
In colour therapy white represents illumination, wholeness and most importantly, oneness, which is the first of the 12 Laws of the Universe and states that everything is connected.
Since time immemorial, heaven and the angelic realms have been depicted in shades of white. White is associated with the crown chakra (the energy centre located at the top of the head) which connects us to our higher self, universal consciousness and the divine.
AI generated image.
‘Latte’ means milk in Gallileo’s native Italian. Are we just a planetary biscotti floating in a Divine coffee cup?
Perhaps Douglas Adams was right and there really is a Restaurant At The End Of The Universe - and maybe, just maybe, God is sitting there in a comfy armchair a sipping a Cosmic Latte, just watching the world go by…
If you love the look of Cosmic Latte and want some ideas to bring the Universe into your home, get in touch to arrange a Cosmic Colour Consultation!
*does anyone else keep thinking that 2002 was just a few years ago?!