MAUNAKEA SKIES Astronomy Talk Series: Exoplanet Imaginarium
The Keck Observatory “Exoplanet Imaginarium”: Where Imagination and Science Meet
Friday, December 13 at 7:00pm
Have you ever wondered what extrasolar planets look like? Or have you imagined boarding on a spacecraft flying by a strange world, or standing on an alien moon’s surface looking at a giant planet rising above the horizon? ‘Imiloa Astronomy Center proudly presents Dr. Carlos Alvarez, Keck Observatory astronomer staff, who will share the results of a collaboration between the W. M. Keck Observatory and award-winning exoplanet artist, Adam Makarenko, to create a science-based artistic rendering of a variety of exoplanet scenes. Friday, December 13 at 7pm. Admission is $8 for members and $10 for non-members. For admission tickets, please call 808-932-8901.
This collaborative project showcases visualizations of alien worlds brought to ‘life’ and embarks on a deep-space visual journey to extrasolar planets that have either been discovered or characterized using Keck Observatory data. Serving as an interface between science, technology, and the arts, this project is designed to fulfill the ultimate dream of anyone who is curious about extrasolar planets.
Since science facts can only go so far in revealing the full nature of exoplanets, the collaborators explored the ‘unknowns’ with creativity and imagination by way of artistic conceptions. This artistic work is comprised of hand-crafted planetary models made from half spheres of plaster, plastic, or foam. The models are painted with a variety of different paint mixtures to achieve the desired effect, such as a gas giant, or a rocky world. The completed planets are then suspended in front of a black backdrop, illuminated by a single light source, and then photographed. The result of this technique gives the work a tangible quality, instantly transporting the viewer to a distant world outside of our solar system.
Dr. Alvarez’s presentation will illustrate the process of translating scientific facts into artistic renderings of exoplanets. He will show some specific examples of extraordinary alien worlds that challenge our understanding of how planetary systems are put together by the laws of physics. The spectacular diversity of alien planetary systems shown in this work will be used as a proxy to illustrate the state-of-the-art instrumentation and observational techniques used by professional astronomers to detect and characterize extrasolar planets. The Exoplanet Imaginarium is a testament to the importance of bringing together science, technology and arts to deepen our understanding of the universe.
Born in Spain in 1969, Dr. Carlos Alvarez graduated from the Universidad del País Vasco (Spain) with a major in Solid State Physics and from the Universidad de La Laguna (Spain) in Astrophysics. He received his doctorate from the University of Leeds (United Kingdom) in 2002 with a Thesis on Outflows from Massive Young Stellar Objects. From 2002 to 2004, Alvarez served as a post-doctoral researcher at the Max Plank Institut für Astronomie in Heidelberg (Germany), working on high spatial resolution observations of massive star forming regions. He proceeded to worked as a Support Astronomer with the 10-meter Gran Telescopio Canarias at the Roque de los Muchachos Observatory in La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain). Since September 2015, Alvarez has assumed the position of a Staff Astronomer with the W. M. Keck Observatory. During his professional career, he has contributed to scientific publications in fields ranging from massive star formation to active galactic nuclei, sub-stellar objects, and solar system objects.
