The Meaning of the Colors in the Mandelbrot Fractal Patterns

What the Colors Mean

The program limits the number of iterations, n, to a limiting value, maxit, currently set to 800. If C hasn't diverged by then it assigns C to the Mandelbrot set and color's its corresponding pixel white. If it diverges within the the first few values of n (currently set to 18) C is assumed to be already diverged and color's its pixel black. All other values of n are assigned a color using the "Color Scheme" menu. There are 3 absolute coloring schemes where the colors vary smoothly with n between 18 and maxit-1 using a particular spectrum (Serene, Flamboyant and Goethe's Rainbow). There are two random schemes where the color values for each n beween 18 and maxit-1 are chosen at random from two different spectra (Rainbow and Serene). The default color scheme is "Repeated" where the colors from the Rainbow spectrum are recycled over a repeating range of n. This scheme was used to create a majority of the images in the Fractal Gallery. By selecting "Color Scheme" under "Display" you can see how the colors vary with n for the currently selected color scheme. To return to viewing the pattern, select "Mandelbrot Fractals" under "Display".