Wells & Mendip Astronomers, in association with BIS Southwest, present ‘VISIONS OF SPACE 2′ – An Exhibition of Astronomical and Space Art by British IAAA artists
As long term followers of this blog will be aware, about a year and a half ago, my work was selected for exibition at the “Visions of Space” show in Wells, here in the UK. An event organised by Chris Starr of the BIS, and the Wells and Mendips astronomers.
You can see my previous post on it here, and the BIS page can be found here.
Well, I’m delighted to say that “Visions of Space 2” is happening soon, and I am once again exhibiting! Highlights include a lecture by David A Hardy, a linkup with Spacefest 8, and a demonstration by Matt Irvine.
And here are some of the images I have submitted. I don’t know which ones will be selected yet!
I rather liked the unusual view of this rendering of a glider in flight over Mars. (Serious design)
This was revealled by some unusual allignments on the orbits of several Kuiper Belt objects.
For the art, the challenge was to show something clearly, while giving an impression of almost total darkness. Here’s what I came up with:
Artists impressionof the possible giant planet in the far outer solar system.
The rich star background is there to imply a very long exposure.
I gave the planet a ring. While the material that far out is sparse, the planets gravity would be completely dominant, while the influence of the Sun would be tiny. For the same reason, I would expect it to have many small moon’s, (not shown).
Here’s a selection of photos from the “Cosmonauts” exhibition at the London Science Museum.
Laika
This shows the arrangement used for for the ‘space dog’ Laika. Laika (meaning “little woofer”), was a stray found on the streets of Moscow. The scientists later said that what they learned was not worth the life of a dog.
Apart from the LK Lander, it was also hugely impressive to see an actual Lunokhod. For those who are not familiar, Lunokhods were the first robot probes to explore another world, the Moon.
They were also intended to provide support for the Soviet manned lunar program. A lunokhod would survey the landing area to ensure it was safe, and also act as a beacon top guide the manned lander to the correct location.
A spare lander would be in the immediate area, and there were plans for a Lunokhod version with a footplate, so it could transport the cosmonaut there in the event of an emergency.
Scientists recently predicted that Phobos will break up and form a ring as it spirals in towards Mars. The ring will be about as dense as Saturn’s, which may seem surprising given that Phobos is so small.