Friday, January 28, 2011

M1: Random Explosion, Ho Hum, Gimmie A Beer

Crab Nebula
It takes light eleven years to travel from one end of this thing to the other.  And in the lower right corner, third star to the left, there's a solar system with an inhabited planet and on it a guy named Ooobie contemplating the universe.  I mean, this is the most incredible thing I've ever seen.  My imagination is doing hand stands.  I use it as a desktop with all my icons disguised into the fluff. 

The Crab Nebula is the result of a supernova visible all over the earth in 1054 AD, documented especially by Chineese astronomers.  The wonderous thing is that it took 6500 years for the light from this thing to travel here so we can see it.  So the explosion actually took place 7554 years ago.  I wonder what it actually looks like now.  Probably all fizzled out.  Time for an adult beverage, art being everywhere.

So there I was wandering around at the Hubble Space Telescope Institute, Johns Hopkins University, taking reference shots for my [upcoming] Campus aerial view illustration (the building overlooks a parking lot that I needed shots of),
Johns Hopkins University, 18" X 24" 1992, inquire here for print
and as I glanced around at all the scientists and astronomers' cubicles, I noticed that all the star charts were in reverse.  Huge white print-outs with black dots and dashes.  Humph, I thought.  Curious.  Where have I seen this stuff before?

Wm

4 comments:

Susan Roux said...

The shape on the print looks remarkably like the crab nebula, with less color. Hum? Awesome picture.

Did you just want to play connect the dots?

William Cook said...

Susan--Whoa. Look at that. Hilarious. Thanks for noticing and pointing it out. As far as connect the dots, oh yes, definitely. But I was too busy trying to think of something bright to say, and they probably would not have appreciated the moron defacing their charts. Intellectually speaking, I would have been comparable to a lab rat in there. I could have ended up in some weird Sputnik moment. All is not lost, though, I can always make my own star charts with a toothbrush and some ink.

Unknown said...

I'm intrigued! In my own life there's been a strong connection between fine art and science. I was a geology/climatology prof for a few decades while pursuing a full-time career in the fine arts where I first began my professional life. I think the two disciplines are naturally connected through intuitive thought, experimentation, and process.

Anonymous said...

Hey I work here and the campus looks just like that :-)
Great work!