The Art of Astrophysics

Recently, a group at MIT's Kavli Institute held a contest called "The Art of Astrophysics". Just this week, they announced the winners. Here's an excerpt of an email from the organizers:

"We received 49 wonderful entries for our "The Art of Astrophysics" contest. We were truly awe-struck by the quality and the variety of all the fabulous entries. We received entries from a wealth of MIT-affiliated individuals, including works from MIT undergrads, graduate students, postdocs, professors, instructors, staff, and spouses; we also received entries from individuals outside the MIT community, including those in our local Boston/Cambridge area, as well as works from abroad (one from as far afield as Slovenia). The techniques used in these art and multimedia works span a broad range, from data visualization to origami to photography to painting to fire-spinning."

The first-prize winner is a great interpretative dance of nuclear fusion in a star, which we always appreciate since we love to talk about stellar evolution. You can view all of the winners here at http://www.flickr.com/photos/artofastro/sets/72157640466634434/.

With Valentine's Day fast approaching and a heavy dose of Chandra, we just might have to pick a favorite that didn't officially win a prize: http://www.flickr.com/photos/artofastro/12213503155/in/set-72157640303689504

We sincerely applaud all who entered as we strongly believe in erasing the invisible divide that exists between art and science and seeing where the combination can take us all.

-Megan Watzke & Kim Arcand, CXC