Hubble's Heartbeat On Hayden Sphere

November 14, 2011 - November 27, 2011

Ticket Info

Free

The laser installation can be best viewed from 81st Street between Central Park West and Columbus Avenue from 5 to 11 pm

Bright green waves of laser light will ripple across the Hayden Sphere beginning on Monday, November 14, to illustrate how the Hubble Space Telescope analyzes stars, galaxies, and other celestial objects in the universe. The public art installation, From the Distant Past, was created by German artist Tim Otto Roth in collaboration with astronomer Bob Fosbury, the former head of the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility.
 
From the Distant Past is based on data captured by Hubble’s spectrometers, advanced instruments that act like prisms, separating light from the cosmos into its constituent colors. This data provides a spectrum “fingerprint” of the object being observed, which tells scientists about its temperature, chemical composition, and motion, all key indicators in understanding the development and age of the universe.
 
The laser installation is presented to ring in the exhibition Beyond Planet Earth: The Future of Space Exploration, which opens on Saturday, November 19.