9 research outputs found
TRIS I: Absolute Measurements of the Sky Brightness Temperature at 0.6, 0.82 and 2.5 GHz
At frequencies close to 1 GHz the sky diffuse radiation is a superposition of
radiation of Galactic origin, the 3 K Relic or Cosmic Microwave Background
Radiation, and the signal produced by unresolved extragalactic sources. Because
of their different origin and space distribution the relative importance of the
three components varies with frequency and depends on the direction of
observation. With the aim of disentangling the components we built TRIS, a
system of three radiometers, and studied the temperature of the sky at , and GHz using geometrically scaled antennas
with identical beams (HPBW = ). Observations
included drift scans along a circle at constant declination
which provided the dependence of the sky signal on the
Right Ascension, and absolute measurement of the sky temperature at selected
points along the same scan circle. TRIS was installed at Campo Imperatore (lat.
= N, long.= , elevation = 2000 m a.s.l.) in
Central Italy, close to the Gran Sasso Laboratory.Comment: Accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa
The unseen water: Experimentation with scientific photomicrography and creative coding
This research involves aesthetic approaches to scientific photomicrography. Specifically, this project investigates the reinterpretation of photomicrographic images of micro-scale drops of water made by a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), a tool that has expanded the boundaries of observation and representation of the micro world since it was introduced to scientific research in the mid-1960s. I was not aiming to produce scientific records through my use of the SEM; instead, like several artists before me, I used scientific photography methods to create aesthetic images. By exploring the interplay between the indexical and iconic modalities in the process of creating photomicrographs, I seek to imbue them with new meanings and re-appropriate scientific photography as a creative practice and a source of science communication to the general public. Building on the fact that scientific and digital tools have brought new ways of seeing the world, my artistic application of them seeks to extend our perception. This paper provides an explanation of the production of interactive artworks for my project. In these works, viewers are encouraged to engage with photomicrographs of water through touch and movement, which resembles human interaction with water