Can violet astronomical objects exist?

Question

According to black-body radiation, violet stars are not possible. Even if there are 1 million Kelvin, they are blue, not violet. But are violet galaxies, nebulae, clusters etc. possible?

Google found a violet galaxy or nebula or black hole, but it looked like it was just painted at will. Can violet astronomical objects actually exist?

Some nebulae containing oxygen are green. I'm looking for non black-body violet.

Does this answer your question? Why are there no green stars? — David Hammen, Jun 29 '21 at 11:11
The black body curve in the answer to the linked question shows not only why there are no green stars, but also shows why there are no violet or purple stars. The color of a black body with an effective temperature of infinity is a nice blue. — David Hammen, Jun 29 '21 at 11:13
No, I know about Black-body radiation. Green and violet star is impossible. But some of the other astronomical objects may not be black body. — change, Jun 29 '21 at 11:15
Also related, Why don't we see purple stars? I did not choose that question as a duplicate because the selected answer s just wrong. — David Hammen, Jun 29 '21 at 11:15
Some contain oxygen nebula are green. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_star_%28astronomy%29 — change, Jun 29 '21 at 11:26
The linked question says nothing but a green nebula. Do violet nebulae exist? — change, Jun 29 '21 at 12:02
Other questions with some "green" in them: Why is the “green” comet C/2014 Q2 (Lovejoy) red in this picture? and also Was the “green star” event in NGC 3314 ever figured out or named? — uhoh, Jun 29 '21 at 14:29
@DavidHammen even the original question acknowledged from the first sentence that a blackbody spectrum can't be violet, as well as acknowledging other mechanisms by which things can make light. Now that they've gone even further an added additional clarification to the question, I think this one can stay open and be answered. Voting to leave open! — uhoh, Jun 29 '21 at 14:53
A bright O-type paired in a close double with a bright deep-orange star can look violet; that's the best you're going to do. — antlersoft, Jun 29 '21 at 15:06
@antlersoft if so then I think that can be an answer; violet is certainly a color, perceived by humans so if it can appear violet, it can be called violet. — uhoh, Jun 29 '21 at 15:19
o-class and m-class? light blue and orange? It doesn't look violet because of the additive mix. There are too many green ingredients. But I think it might work. Do you have an example? — change, Jun 30 '21 at 02:21
I just retracted my close-vote, thanks to @uhoh for the reasoning. — B--rian, Jun 30 '21 at 12:55
Thanks @uhoh for the guidance. Yes: a binary system can certainly be considered an "astronomical object", so the question is, in effect, whether there are two classes of stars whose light, when added, looks "violet" (and whether it's realistic that such a binary could exist, given the probable age differences). The dupe doesn't address this, so I'm voting to keep it open. PS an answer addressing these issues comprehensively and concluding "no, such an object probably doesn't exist" would still be a valuable addition to our Astronony.SE library. :-) — Chappo Hasn't Forgotten, Jul 01 '21 at 01:10

score -3 · Answer 1 · answered Jun 30 '21 at 13:25

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Obviously, they can exist. There are blue stars:

There are red stars (red giants):

If these happen to circle one another you will perceive the entire system as violet (from Earth).

One of two stars can develop into a red giant while the other stays a hot blue one. It's the question if they can coexist in a double system but I can see no reason why not.

answered Jun 30 '21 at 13:25

Deschele Schilder

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This sounds more like a guess based on how the human eye perceives the addition of primary colours. Can you be a bit more specific on the actual star types and wavelengths involved, and how narrow the light spectrum would be for each? Actual stellar examples, rather than unattributed and unlabelled photos, would be useful. – Chappo Hasn't Forgotten Jul 01 '21 at 00:51

Can violet astronomical objects exist?

1 Answers1