Life on a Pale Red Dot
What could other worlds look like? Exoplanetology — the study of planets orbiting stars other than our sun — is rapidly progressing, and researchers are discovering increasing numbers of planets. Little is known about these distant worlds — perhaps their mass, or their radius, but conditions on the surface are still left somewhat to our imagination.
The nearest star to the Earth after the Sun is Proxima Centauri, a mere four light years away, and we now know it too hosts a planet. Much smaller and redder than our Sun, Proxima emits most of its light in the infrared part of the electromagnetic spectrum, rather than the visible range.
Life on Earth has evolved to make the most of the Sun’s energy — but how would life have evolved on a planet with a very different kind of light available?
Our project explores this idea using Kodak Aerochrome, a false-colour infrared film. Sensitive to light extending into the infrared regime, where foliage reflects strongly, it produces images that mimic the red hued plant life that we might find on other planets. Through this series of photographs we explore the story of an astronaut visiting one of these distant worlds.
See the exhibition of photographs in the Robot Arms and on Sunday from 1pm in the Arts tent.
Licensed to the public under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/