Astronomy as Art

During my recent trip to Florida, I was lucky enough to run into John Chumack at the Artigras art festival in Jupiter. John is an astrophotographer whose name and work I am very familiar with from my days at Astronomy magazine. I introduced myself to John and we had a nice conversation about his work, traveling to art fairs, public education, and that regretfully short-lived comet, McNaught.

My mom purchased my son a beautiful compilation of solar system objects. (Shh, it's for his birthday, he doesn't know about it yet!) If you want to browse at the myriad of celestial wonders John has for sale, you can visit his website.

People are always interested in the gorgeous photos of the universe that get featured on national news programs, major newsmagazines, and internet web sites. But a lot of these people who love to gape at the wondrous images have never considered putting them in their own home. The Hubble website has a section dedicated to printing the images for free right on your home computer.

If you like space but have more of a sci-fi or fantasy bent, check out the work of artists who make the artists' conceptions of worlds we are not yet able to photograph. Planets circling other suns are a popular subject. Lynette Cook is one of the most celebrated artists in this genre, and signed reproductions of her work are available at her website.

What is my favorite piece of space art hanging in my home? That would be the canvas hanging above my son's bed. It is covered in fingerpaints with a 5-year-old's rendition of the solar system. Watch out, Lynette.