Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Light Echoes




When a supernova explodes, its light propagates outward in a sphere, like an expanding bubble. When this light strikes gas and dust clouds, it reflects, producing what astronomers call "light echoes." As the light-bubble expands, more and more reflections appear. This picture, inspired by a supernova observed near our galaxy in 1987, shows some of these light echoes. This time I chose a color scheme different from the usual blue and red that I used in space pictures. The colors are, as I have explained before, mostly arbitrary, since human eyes can't see them. Space artists and photographers add whatever makes it look interesting.

"Light Echoes," acrylic on illustration board, 10" x 7", February 1990.

1 comment:

Tristan Alexander said...

Funny I can see the airbrush work here but it is exactly how it should look to be "realistic", so I like it! I also like the softer colors.