25 April 2013
Finding art amongst the stars
Lecturer finds inspiration in gamma ray bursts
AN artist from Manchester Metropolitan University has produced an installation based on the discovery of the brightest events in the observable universe.
Dave Griffiths, from MIRIAD, has been working with scientists from the University of Leicester following their discovery of gamma ray bursts.
Dave has produced an art installation based around the work of the team who are monitoring data from the Swift space observatory.
The installation includes visualisations of the data pinpointing the time and location of gamma ray bursts, accompanied by audio recordings of the international teleconferences held to confirm the sightings.
Life and death
An exhibition of Dave’s work, including the installation, will be on display in Leicester’s Phoenix Square until the end of May.
He said: “Gamma ray bursts are hugely destructive and creative events – and are comparable to life and death situations.
“I have been interested in astronomy for the last few years and I became very excited by the affinities between what I was doing with cue-dots and what the Leicester scientists are doing with gamma ray bursts.”
Cue-dots are the marks made in motion picture film prints to signal to the projectionist that a particular reel of a movie is ending.
In a galaxy far away…
Dave spent three days with Professor Julian Osborne and Dr Kim Page at the UK Swift Science Data Centre as part of an artist-in-residence collaboration funded by MIRIAD.
The astronomers use the centre to monitor and archive data from Swift – a multi-wavelength space observatory which trawls the sky looking for gamma ray bursts. These are extremely bright, energetic flashes of gamma rays which are observed in distant galaxies.
They typically occur during a supernova, when stars many times larger than our sun explode – often outshining entire galaxies.
Dave said: “Professor Julian Osborne and Dr Kim Page were incredibly patient and happy to explain the finer points of X-ray astronomy. I found it really inspiring and exciting working with them.”
