Spectrographic Plates / The Circumgalactic H-alpha Spectrograph (CHaS)
a collaboration between Ally Baldelli and Sarah Graber
Spectrographic Platesmedium: acrylic paint, cardboard, cardstock, thread, plastic sheets, sewing pins
Much of astronomy today is based on the pictures astronomers take. In Sarah's research, they used a spectrograph, looking at the different wavelengths of light that are emitted by galaxies gas clouds. Before such advanced technology, we used photographic plates, which were sliver coated sheets of glass exposed to light to record images of the stars. I took inspiration from this and put the different colors from the NGC 628 galaxy image on three separate sheets of plastic to represent the photographic plates. The separate plates serve to show how scientists pick apart a single image. In the bottom is a thread rendition of the Spectrographic Raytrace found on the poster, and the top right has the symbol of the Hydrogen, which is the element emitting this light. This piece features references to the past alongside the bright colors of modern pop art and cutting edge scientific research. I wanted to remind people to take time to marvel at how far astronomers have come in this short period. |
Target Selection for CHaSmedium: matplotlib
CHaS is a spectrograph in construction that that's designed to study the circumgalactic medium - the gas surrounding galaxies. It looks for hydrogen-alpha emissions coming from the circumgalactic medium of nearby galaxies, and that data can be used to learn about galaxy formation, as well as maybe things like the distribution of dark matter. I've been working on target selection for CHaS, taking images from other surveys and using them to model what CHaS might see when it looks at these galaxies. That means a lot of unit-conversion, and notably mimicking the hexagonal microlens array that CHaS uses (this results in all those little dots on the first image). NGC 628 has been my guinea pig galaxy throughout the coding process and is, objectively, the prettiest galaxy I've been working on. |
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My name is Ally Baldelli, and I am a First-Year at Barnard. I want to major in Astronomy and Applied Math. While I don't plan to pursue art academically is has been one of my favorite ways to spend my time for as long as I remember. I hope you see my passion for art and science reflected in my work.
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Hi, I'm Sarah, I'm a junior at Columbia majoring in Astronomy (and maybe concentrating in women's, gender, and sexuality studies? we'll see). Academically, I'm into instrumentation, public outreach, and science communication/education. Outside of school, I'm by and large an art person. I've always been an artist, and art is always going to be an important component of how I define myself. I'm really passionate about fostering both my love of art and my love of astro, and even though for me personally they don't often overlap in practice, I think the things that drive me towards both of them are the same.
Twitter: @sarah_graber |