In 2002, Ivan Baldry and Karl Glazebrook, professors from the U.K. and Australia, respectively, co-led a research study to measure the light emitted from tens of thousands of galaxies and developed a single spectrum of light to represent the entire universe. You can read about their research at Live Science.
From that spectrum, the team also computed the average color of the universe: “a beige shade not too far off from white” called cosmic latte. Other suggestions by the research team included cappuccino cosmico, primordial clam chowder, and Big Bang beige.
The average color of the universe being beige may sound boring, but it makes sense. Combining all the wavelengths of visible light results in the color white, and the cosmic spectrum contains many different wavelengths. The research team also adjusted the colors in their spectrum to account for redshift, which causes light to appear more red as it stretches across space.
Cosmic latte may not be the flashiest color, but wouldn’t it be neat to use the average color of the universe in your next web or design project? Here are the color codes for cosmic latte:
| Hex | RGB | HSL |
|---|---|---|
| #FFF8E7 | rgb(255, 248, 231) | hsl(43, 100%, 95%) |