Did you know all Hubble images are black & white? Color is added later.

When you think of Hubble telescope, you think of amazing images, full of color that captivate you and allow you to see the beautiful vast place we call space. But many people don’t realize the fact that Hubble telescope only processes black and white images. The Hubble telescope doesn’t even have a color camera on it. As a result, every image Hubble sends to Earth is in black and white.

The Hubble telescope has many filters, these filters allow the telescope to to record in many different wavelengths. These wavelengths include colors your eyes cannot even see. This allows scientist to study “invisible” features of objects — those only visible in ultraviolet and infrared wavelengths.

Many full-color Hubble images are combinations of three separate exposures — one each taken in red, green and blue light. Red, green and blue are the primary colors of light. When mixed together, these three colors can recreate almost any color of light that is visible to human eyes. That’s how televisions, computer monitors and video cameras recreate colors to show a picture.

Source: NASA