Category Archives: astrovisualization

astrovisualization

How Do They Do That?

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Ever wonder how scientists get those gorgeous images from HST and other observatories? The information comes as a series of ones and zeros down a data pipeline, is “massaged” to calibrate the data, and then put through some imaging processing to make the pictures look “pretty.”

Recently the Space Telescope Science Institute made available a software plug-in for Adobe® Photoshop that lets you take their raw images and craft astronomical artwork for your own computer. Here’s the press release and links:

PROCESS ASTRONOMICAL IMAGES ON YOUR HOME COMPUTER JUST LIKE THE EXPERTS
Anyone with a desktop computer running Adobe® Photoshop® or Adobe Photoshop Elements software can try their hand at crafting astronomical images as beautiful as Hubble Space Telescope’s. A free software plug-in being released today for Photoshop makes the treasure of archival astronomical images and spectra from Hubble Space Telescope, NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope, The European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope, the European Space Agency’s XMM-Newton X-Ray Observatory and many other famous telescopes accessible to home astronomy enthusiasts.

Imaging scientists at NASA, The European Space Agency and the European Southern Observatory developed the free software, called the Photoshop FITS Liberator. The term FITS stands for File Image Transfer Software. This single file format archives nearly all images of stars, nebulae and galaxies produced by major telescopes around the world. Until now this file format has been accessible to very few people other than the scientists themselves using highly specialized image processing tools. The ESA/ESO/NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator will be released today and is freely available for download from: here.

Courtesy STScI
Courtesy STScI

This is an example created using the ESA/ESO/NASA Photoshop FITS Liberator. The image of a portion of the ring galaxy AM0644-741 was made using Hubble’s Advanced Camera for Surveys. Top: original black and white images obtained through filters isolating red, green and blue light. Middle: the separate images reassigned the primary colors red, green and blue. Bottom: the combined full color image.
Electronic images and additional information are available at:
http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/newsdesk/archive/nuggets/1089291600
http://www.spacetelescope.org/

astrovisualization, space art

Space Art

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Image credit: Chris Butler, sold through NovaSpace Galleries
Image credit: Chris Butler, sold through NovaSpace Galleries

Well, last time I wrote, it was about space music. Now it’s time to explore a little space art. Astronomy and space travel and exploration have inspired a lot of paintings and digital masterpieces over the years. Some of the best artwork I’ve seen is available through a company called NovaSpace Galleries. I’ve always been fascinated with the ways that these and other artists interpret space and astronomy themes.

I know where they get their inspiration: the telescope, out under the starry skies, and from the images we get from our telescopes and spacecraft. Some of those “real” images almost seem like space art — like the one below, showing two interacting galaxies, taken using the Hubble Space Telescope.

Galaxy as seen by HST
Galaxy as seen by HST

With such wonderful images from the realm of science, it’s no small wonder that the realm of space art is rich and varied. Artists take their inspiration from any part of the cosmos, using space exploration and observation to spin out gorgeous fantasies based in reality. I love to browse space art — it takes me to places and times and events that I can never go on my own.

There are plenty of good places to go view beautiful space art on the web — beginning with the International Association of Astronomical Artists (IAAA), and their website at: IAAA.org., and of course a site dedicated to the Father of Space Art, Chesley Bonestell (Bonestell Space Art. Next time you’ve got a free moment on your hands and a little urge to explore space on the Web, check out the space artists!