Thank you for identifying that. I felt a bunch of things were off in that screenshot. For one, I don't remember those colors. But I didn't trust my memory.

But more importantly, since the article went on to describe the "octopus" and other aliens in some detail, I was looking at that picture trying to see those details. None of those aliens were quite as I remembered them. That Atari 2600 picture really doesn't do justice to what the article goes into detail about.

There was color but it was achieved via tinted cellophane tape. (though I do remember playing pure black and white versions as well) Later, there were 'real' color versions in arcades but I don't recall if it was a later iteration of the hardware or a knock-off.

Indeed. And it's not hard to find screenshots of the actual game since Space Invaders is a very popular project for people interested in emulation:

https://github.com/cbeust/space-invade.rs