Imagining exoplanets as destinations: a case study of artist-scientist collaborations on NASA's iconic Exoplanet Travel Bureau posters
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This is the age of exoplanets. Thousands of planets around other suns have been discovered, upending settled science. Unlike spectacular imagery of other phenomena (e.g., nebulae), exoplanets are difficult to `directly' image, and exoplanet scientific imagery is visually limited. This practice insight is a qualitative case study of how artists and scientists at NASA's Exoplanet Travel Bureau co-imagined exoplanets as destinations of the future, with the artists playing an essential role of clarifying and extending scientific thinking. Using textual/visual analysis of how the Bureau's iconic series of exoplanet posters (launched in 2015) invited the public to visit exoplanet landscapes, this practice insight reflects on a recent historical instance of how exoplanets were visually communicated to the public in innovative ways, using overlapping scientific and artistic practices.
Source: Journal of Science Communication
Author: Ceridwen Dovey
Institution: Macquarie University
Language: English
Topic: Art, Technology, and Culture
Subfield: Visual Arts and Performing Arts
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
Funder: Macquarie University
OpenAlex ID: W4413895100