Cosmic Messengers
- Year
- 2024-2025
- Artist
- Veronica Keff
- University
- University of Colorado, Boulder
- Major
- Astrophysics
- Minor in Mathematics
- Title
- Cosmic Messengers
- Genre/Medium
- Paint on Canvas
- Medium
- Acrylic
- Oil
- Current Location
- ISTB-4
- Description
-
“Cosmic Messengers” is a 24” x 30” oil painting inspired by the Psyche mission’s use of the Gamma Ray Spectrometer (part of the Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer instrument). This process involves cosmic rays (energetic light rays from dying stars) striking the Psyche asteroid and exciting atoms on its surface. As the atoms return to their ground state, they release gamma rays, which are captured by the Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS). In the painting, vertical lines represent this emitted energy, each corresponding to a component of Psyche’s composition, in this case metals like Iron, Nickel, and Iridium.
The green lines signify different isotopes of nickel, with Nickel-60 on the left and Nickel-58 on the right. A red line between them represents Iron, specifically Iron-54, found on Psyche’s surface. These elements are crucial for the Psyche mission, as the relative abundances of Ni/Fe shed light on planetary development and could help answer if Psyche is the remnant of a planetesimal core.
Since Psyche has not yet been directly imaged from orbit, I used false colors to map its surface in pink and purple. The painting reflects the whimsical side of science, where at times reality becomes stranger than fantasy.
- Media
-
Cosmic Messengers
Part of Cosmic Messengers