A world premiere, SUN is a partnership between public artist Alex Rinsler and Professor Robert Walsh, one of the UK’s leading solar physicists.
SUN is a seven-metre diameter suspended sphere, presenting astrophysical data from NASA’s Solar Dynamic Observatory in stunning 360°. SUN displays several months in the life of our closest star but in tens of minutes of real time. This continually evolving globe reveals the Sun in extreme ultraviolet light, a part of the electromagnetic spectrum beyond human sight.
Specialised image enhancement techniques highlight the finer details and texture of our solar neighbour, which would otherwise be lost. Cycling through different ranges of temperature from a cool 4500 degrees to an impossibly hot 10 million degrees, SUN reveals our star in a completely new light.
With support of public funding from Arts Council England and the Science and Technology Facilities Council, and technical production by Pufferfish.
Co-commissioned by the Lightpool Festival, Blackpool and Light Up Lancaster.
I make large scale and interdisciplinary outdoor work as an artist and producer, with communities and celebration at the heart of it all. Most of it we burn in the end. I’m based in Manchester, UK with projects internationally.
Robert Walsh is professor of solar physics at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. He is a leading expert in understanding observations of our closest star and has delivered public outreach programmes to audiences across the world over the last three decades. He is a Science & Technology Facilities Council Leadership Fellow in Public Engagement and the UK National Outreach Co-ordinator for the International Astronomical Union.
From 7.30pm to 8.30pm each evening, an astronomer will be present for you to “Ask an Astronomer” all about SUN as well as other question them with other astronomical queries.
All talks are accessible to a non-expert audience, and will include British Sign Language interpretation
throughout the event.
Our Dynamic Sun
Dr Helen Mason (University of Cambridge)
The Sun, our star, is in a quiet phase of its eleven-year activity cycle, but we can expect some spectacular action in a few years’ time. This talk will review what we have learnt about our dynamic Sun, in particular what we know (and don’t yet know!) about sunspots, solar active regions and flares (the largest explosions of energy in our solar system).
Dr Helen Mason is a solar scientist at the University of Cambridge, and in 2014, was awarded an OBE for her services to Higher Education and to Women in Science, Engineering and Technology.
The Search for Extrasolar Planets and Extra-terrestrial Life in the Milky Way
Dr Mark Norris (University of Central Lancashire)
Astronomers are now discovering thousands of planets beyond our solar system. They are very difficult to see directly with telescopes as exoplanets are hidden by the brightness of the host star. In this talk, Dr Norris will explain how exoplanets are observed, what these planets are like, and what the prospects are for possibly detecting life on one of these new worlds in the coming years.
Dr. Mark Norris is an observational astronomer at the University of Central Lancashire studying how star clusters and galaxies form.
When Galaxies Collide!
Dr Megan Argo (University of Central Lancashire)
Once upon a time we thought the Universe was static and unchanging. These days of course, we know differently. Join us as we look at what galaxies are made of, take a bird’s-eye view of our own Milky Way, look at what happens when gravity becomes irresistible, and end with a sneak preview of our own galaxy’s distant future.
Dr Megan Argo is an astrophysicist and science communicator. In her day job she teaches astronomy at the University of Central Lancashire.
Living with a Star
Professor Robert Walsh (University of Central Lancashire)
Our Sun may appear tranquil and constant but is it in fact a seething ball of million degree-electrified gases. Recently the view of our closest star has been transformed due to dedicated, space-based observatories. Using the latest images and movies, Prof Walsh will track the flow of energy from the nuclear reactions at the heart of the star right down to our own home planet. Along the way we will psychoanalyse the Sun’s magnetic personality, surf along shock waves in the solar wind and run for cover from solar storms as we try to predict the effect of space weather upon the Earth.
Robert is a Professor of Solar Physics in the Jeremiah Horrocks Institute for Mathematics, Physics and Astronomy at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan). He is a leading expert on the analysis of space-based solar observations of the Sun.
