Thermal Energy

One of the things that really struck me during the ‘Hubble’ movie was when the narrator was talking about the thermal energy of the stars.  The satellite had a thermal vision feature in which it showed which stars were the hottest and which were the coldest.  If you know anything about thermal energy, the more light a color absorbs, the more thermal energy it can produces i.e. blue stars are the hottest, red the coldest. 

Why is it that we commonly associate red as being hot and blue as being cold?  That’s how every thermometer distinguishes heat from A/C that I’ve ever seen.  I suspect it has to do with the emotional responses color elicits.  Red is general described as being a “loud” and “aggressive” color, while blue is commonly described as being more “passive” and “cool” in nature.  Just some food for thought.

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