18 THE NEW REVIEW | 01. 1 0. 17 | The Observer
Although this works well, the
approach could perhaps have been
more clearly signposted on the
cover. Subtitling the book Exploring
the Astronomical World does mean
that it is going to disappoint anyone
who purchases it as an easy way to
learn astronomy.
Unapologetically, it sometimes
requires the reader to closely examine
the captions to separate scientifi c fact
from artistic fi ction. For example,
I was surprised to learn that the
picture of Titan is in fact a piece of
art by Daniel Zeller. Conversely, it
was almost a shock to discover that
the impressionistic swirls, rather
pretentiously (I thought) called Dunes
on Mars, was in fact a picture, from
the HIRISE camera on Nasa’s Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter , of actual
dunes on Mars.
The piece that brought the biggest
smile to my face was Totality byrather than an astronomer, who
put together a group of consultants
to advise on pictures that were
signifi cant and/or fresh, and spanned a
number of cultures.
“Artists have a way of seeing that
is diff erent from us scientists,” says
Murdin, “We let nature provide
the originality and beauty, artists
get inspiration from sources that is
less constrained.”
Thus, a high-defi nition image of the
galaxy Centaurus A is placed opposite
a diptych from artist Jane Grisewood.
Centaurus A contains a supermassive
black hole in its core that is disturbing
space so much that jets of particles
can be seen shooting out of it, and
Grisewood’s piece refl ects her interest
in black holes. It uses two black-and-
white artworks to visualise the power
of gravity, both to hold shining objects
together and to hide things from view
within a heart of utter darkness.
Elsewhere in the book, a 1582
alchemical representation of the sun,
complete with a ray halo and a human
face, is juxtaposed with a 21st-century
computer simulation of a sunspot.
Immediately noticeable are the tendrils
that reach out from the sunspot,
emulating the artistic representation of
the sun’s rays in the artwork.Scottish artist Katie Paterson. She
constructed a disco ball, each mirrored
tile depicting a diff erent solar eclipse.
It reminds me of all the times I’ve
secretly stood beneath one and
imagined that I’m in deep space.
The book contains images of
genuine surprise. One such is
1971’s Fallen Astronaut by Paul van
Hoeydonck. The Belgian artist
fashioned a 8.5 cm tall human fi gure
out of aluminium as a tribute to the
six Soviet cosmonauts and the eight
US astronauts who had died in the
exploration of space. What makes
it truly extraordinary, however, is
that the image shows it lying in the
dust on the surface of the moon.
Apollo 15 astronaut Dave Scott had
smuggled it aboard his lunar capsule
and deposited it there without the
approval or knowledge of N asa
during a moon walk. As there is
no atmosphere on the moon, the
small statue could now rest there
undisturbed for millennia.
Elsewhere, there is a possible
explanation for the detail in Vincent
Van Gogh’s 1889 painting The Starry
Night. Created by the artist while
recovering from his infamous ear-
severing incident , the night sky is alive
with stars and a curious swirl of blue.M
any poetic descriptions
of the universe have
found their way into
print over the millennia
that humankind has
been fascinated with
outer space. The starry
vault, the fi rmament, the void, heaven- all express something of the awe
and mystery we naturally feel when
confronted with infi nity.
Perhaps the most apparently
incongruous, yet simultaneously
most appropriate description is to
be found in the works of William
Herschel , the 18th-century
astronomer who discovered the planet
Uranus. He called the universe a
“luxuriant garden”.
He lived in Bath with his sister
Caroline at a time when botanists
were travelling the world to classify
its myriad plants. Herschel saw a
direct parallel to his own eff orts to
catalogue the celestial objects that he
and his sister were discovering in the
night sky. Each curiosity appeared
as a sculpted twist of dim light in his
telescope, as plentiful and as diverse
as wildfl owers in a meadow, hence his
horticultural description.
As I fl ipped through the pages of
the new Phaidon book Universe , I
SCIENCE & TECH
found myself experiencing a sense
of Herschelian wonder at the sheer
beauty of deep space. But what
makes this book unique is that as well
as the breathtaking images taken
with telescopes and the drawings
of historical astronomers, it also
includes the creative representations
that have sprung from the mind
of artists.
The result is a weighty tome that
contains more than 300 evocative
pictures. It was once popular to
call publications of this sort “coff ee
table books”, but Universe deserves
more serious consideration than as
a visual distraction while taking a
caff eine hit.
“The pictures had to have art-
historical interest, aesthetic value
and/or curiosity value, and above all
be provocative,” says Professor Paul
Murdin , an astronomer from the
University of Cambridge, who wrote
the book’s introduction.
It is a refreshing perspective to bring
to an astronomy book, and refl ects
perfectly the quiet rise of “one culture”
thinking that places art and science on
level pegging as equally valid ways to
bring meaning to our place in nature.
Perhaps this is because the book’s
editor is Rosie Pickles, an art historian FALLEN ASTRONAUT
PAUL VAN HOEYDONCK
Th is tiny statue
and plaque were
left on the moon
by Apollo 15
commander, David
Scott, without
the knowledge
of Nasa. Th e idea
was initiated by
Belgian artist Van
Hoeydonck. Scott
agreed to take
the aluminium
fi gure and added a
memorial plaque
with the names
of the six Soviet
cosmonauts and
eight US astronauts
who had died during
the space race. Due
to the moon’s lack
of atmosphere the
fi gure should rest
undisturbed for
eternity.
Hadley Rille, the
moon, 1971A 1582 alchemical
representation of the
sun is juxtaposed
with a 21st-century
computer simulation
HYPERBOREA, 01
DAN HOLDSWORTH
Th is 2006 image
by British
photographer
Holdsworth is
part of a series
on the northern
lights. Here, the
greenish light
bathes the Icelandic
atmosphere in an
eerie, supernatural
glow; the gold
thread is caused
by car headlights
during the long
exposure. Th ese
night-time displays
occur at the edge
of the atmosphere,
where it gradually
merges with the
vacuum of outer
space.
Private collection,
2006▲ PREVIOUS PAGE
PISMIS 24 IN NGC 6357
NASA, ESA AND IAA
Th is image looks like
it was created in an
artist’s imagination,
but it was captured
by the Hubble space
telescope. Th e
lower part is the
vast nebula of gas
and dust; the upper
half shows the
cluster of stars
known as Pismis 24.
Nasa/ESA/Jesús
Maíz Apell, 2006 UNRAVELLING
SATURN’S RINGS
NASA, JPL
Using data from the
Cassini spacecraft,
this image has been
coloured to show
the size of the
particles that make
up Saturn’s rings.
For example, purple
areas are made up
of particles larger
than 5cm in
diameter.
Nasa/JPL, 2005