Is this image of what the eye would see or is it modified?
Before you jump to "bonkers" maybe give the people you reply to some credit- I'm an amateur astronomer with facts at his disposal.
As am I, and any time I use an eye piece, it is nothing but b&w for DSOs even for something as bright as Orion's Nebula. The spirit of the conversation is if people can see the true color the way images from large telescopes posted in articles like this. They cannot. You take the reaction from the average person that has only seen processed images after looking through a telescope for the first time, and they will almost always have a bit of disappointment in their voice. I have taken my scope to rooftop bars and let patrons look through at whatever can be seen at the time. I have yet to do this and not meet someone that's never looked through a telescope with their own eyes--which is the point of my effort.
For demonstration, I always attach a DSLR to prime focus and display Live View.
I mean, just look at what you wrote:
> Using a telescope to look at things, one only sees a black and white image.
as anyone who owns a telescope that can point at trees knows, you can definitely "look at things" and see them in colour (assuming you have normal colour vision).
I remember seeing Jupiter in colors when looking at it from the backyard of a friend of mine.
That telescope didn't have a motor and we were constantly chasing Jupiter manually. It stays inside the ocular only for a few seconds, then Earth points us into another direction.