Lynette Cook
Creating the Cosmos
The following article originally appeared in The
Astronomical Society of the Pacific’s column “Astro
Beat” and is reproduced here with permission of ASP
and the author.
My parents loved the outdoors, and I give them credit for my own wonder of
the natural world. Favorite memories include hunting for giant puffballs and
spring flowers in the Southern Illinois woods. On camping trips my mother
would point out the constellations, which seemed especially close and bright
on a summer vacation to Canyonlands National Park in Utah. I felt as though
I could reach out, grab the stars, and pull the sparkling gems down to Earth.
Figure 1.
This supermassive black
hole has nearly 10 billion
times the mass of the
Sun. It is located in NGC
4889, the brightest
member of the Coma
galaxy cluster.
Credit: Gemini
Observatory/AURA;
artwork by Lynette Cook.
http://www.gemini.edu/
node/11703
Given my aptitude and appreciation for art, it seemed fitting to become a scientific illustrator. A staff position of Artist/Photographer for the Morrison Planetarium, which I held from 1984-2000, was instrumental in connecting my art skills
with astronomy. Through freelance work and subsequent self-employment, I
have been privileged to work with research astronomers, science editors, and
art directors, portraying the marvels of the universe visually: extrasolar planets, distant galaxies, black holes, possible life in the universe, and much more have been some of the wonderful
places this work has allowed me to “visit.”
Much of my artwork is commissioned for press releases about cutting edge astronomical research. How exciting it is to know the news before it makes news, and to play a role in getting
the word “out there!” This process is a mystery to many, and I often am asked the question,
“How do you know what to paint?” To shed light on this process, I turn to my work with the
Gemini Observatory, for which I’ve created numerous illustrations used in press releases identifying new discoveries.
From Discussion to Form
My most recent Gemini art was for the November 26, 2013 announcement titled “Fast, Furious,
Refined: Smaller Black Holes Can Eat Plenty.” [http://www.gemini.edu/node/12100] It describes
the environment around M101 ULX-1, and features a stellar-mass black hole with accretion disk
and a Wolf-Rayet star that feeds the voracious appetite of the black hole.
20
GeminiFocus
April 2014