APOD: 2026 September 28 – Cosmic Latte: The Average Color of the Universe
APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 September 28 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. AnnotatedOriginal Cosmic Latte: […]
On September 28, 2026, the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) featured a unique image titled "Cosmic Latte: The Average Color of the Universe." The image aimed to answer the whimsical question of what color our entire sky would be if all the stars were mixed together. The answer, depicted in a shade of beige (# FFF8E7), was determined by averaging the light emitted by 200,000 galaxies from the 2dF Galaxy Redshift Survey.
The resulting cosmic spectrum showed emission across all parts of the electromagnetic spectrum. However, the single perceived composite color was noticeably less blue than it had been 10 billion years ago. This shift indicates that redder stars are becoming more prevalent in the universe. The image's color was the winner of a naming contest, which included other suggestions such as skyvory and univeige.
Astronomers Karl Glazebrook and Ivan Baldry from Johns Hopkins University created the image. The APOD, which has recently changed its email for image submissions, will continue to provide daily images of our fascinating universe with brief explanations written by professional astronomers.
Written by urgent.news from NASA's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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