Astrophysics and art- a few concepts

Not many people know that, but I used to be quite smart (or educated enough). There was a time, when I really wanted to get an artistic/scientific internship at an astronomical observatory in La Palma. Therefore I created a collection of astronomy-inspired jewelry objects, to run in that race.
They show the process of nucleosynthesis (how elements are created by stars), the creation of space-time grid, the Cosmic Microwave Background (proof of the Big Bang), the Herzsprung-Russel diagram (that organizes stars), creation of matter & anti-matter, neutron star eating a normal star… Some of them were inspired by masters I adore (Claudio Pino ), some by Polish artists who worked together for charity (Wielka Orkiestra Świątecznej Pomocy). I found those designs a few days ago and I though, that they are really quite good.

 

Sad to say – I did not get the internship, and most of the designs stays “in-the-potential-of-being-created”. I did make 3 of them, though: the Milky way Galaxy, the Nucleosynthesis necklace and the Lagrangian equation.

Galaxy

The necklace is a sculpted representation of a spiral galaxy (Milky Way), with a special attention given to the Perseus Arm and the Scutum-Centaurus Arm, which are particularly rich with red giants and red stars’ clusters. The center of the galaxy in the necklace is a piece of quartz (covered with titanium), which creates an impression of thousands of shining grains (stars), which are cumulated inside every galaxy. The necklace has luminescent qualities and shines blue at dark with the direction of the galaxie’s arms position.

Materials:

Pendant: silver, garnets, white zircons, druzy quartz with titanium

The necklace is made of coated stainless steel lines with silver balls, silver fastening.

Diameter: about 6 cm, lines’ length: about 43,5 cm

Nucleosynthesis

Have you ever wondered why the stars shine? This is a very simple recipe for that (simplyfying the whole matter, of course). The stars burn light elements (Hydrogen) and as a conclusion of that reaction, a heavier element appears (Helium) and energy <3 This is a step-by-step diagram of that process. At the top of the necklace is a STAR (amethyst “sun”). Under the star, there are 2 hydrogen atoms (labradorites). Hydrogen in its simple form is build with a single proton. When those 2 hydrogen atoms connect, they create another form of hydrogene, but with a NEUTRON (moon stone) in the atomic nucleus – deuter. During that process a positron (small labradorite ball) and a neutrino (small pearl) escape. When a deuter and a hydrogen connect, they create a large amount of energy (gold plated sphere), burn and create a single Helium-3 particle. When two Helium-3 particles join, they create a single Helium-4 particle and two free Hydrogen particles. And the whole process starts again. This golden ball is the energy, which makes the sun hot and basically gives life to our planet 🙂

With time, the stars burn Helium and other, creating all the known elements from the Mendeleev’s Table, getting so heavy, that the gravity causes them to collapse, explode and….. – that’s where we got our all elements to build out bodies from.

Materials: silver, amethyst, labradorites, moon stones, pearl, 24k gold plating, brass collar

Dimensions: pendant 14 cm x 4,5 cm, collar diameter – 14,5 cm

 

The Lagrangian equation in the Meteorite ring

A ring inspired by the meteorite shower, that happened in Russia 15.II 2013. The turquoise locked in the glass bulb is the Earth, over it is a flying meteorite (a real meteorite found in Argentina in 1576) which is attracted by the Moon – located over the glass bulb. As you move the Moon, the meteorite moves with it. When you disconnect the Moon from the bulb, the meteorite will fall down on the Earth! The ring itself has written equation to count the trajectory of the comet.

Materials: silver, turquise, meteorite, size 19