Coloring the Universe An Insider’s Look at Making Spectacular Images of Space

Travis Rector, Kimberly Arcand, Megan Watzke University of Alaska Press £35 HB

The book is squarely aimed at the US market and this results in my only quibble: the resolute avoidance of metric The back cover of Coloring the Universe units throughout the text. It surely sets out its pitch in no uncertain terms. wouldn’t have hurt to include metric “This is not your typical astronomy book,” figures in brackets, if only as an insight it proclaims, while the blurb goes on to into the language in which astronomy is distance the volume from “coffee table actually conducted. But this is a very books full of pretty astronomy pictures”. minor complaint. A nod must also go But if you’re a fan of eye-popping to the book’s designers: it is space imagery don’t be put beautifully laid out in a off: this tome is bursting way that does full justice at the seams with some to the images, with very pretty astronomy some nice design pictures indeed. flourishes that lend

What singles this it the luxurious feel book out is how it of an art monograph lifts the curtain on rather than a the processes by which science textbook. these spectacular Whether you’re images are made. There an experienced are explanations of the astrophotographer or astrophysics of celestial simply someone who objects, how telescopes and How much does the iconic loves beautiful space cameras capture and record Pillars of Creation image pictures and wants insight light, as well as the software owe to landscape painting? into how they’re created, techniques used to create these striking Coloring the Universe hits the spot. It’s images. But you’ll also find discussions on true that this is not your typical astronomy the science of perception in the human eye book, and after reading it you’ll probably and brain, as well as topics that veer into never look at an astronomy image in the realms of art theory. If you’re curious quite the same way again. Nevertheless, to know why hydrogen is an important I can guarantee it’s going to look amazing element in astronomy and how Hubble’s on your coffee table. iconic 1995 image Pillars of Creation owes a debt to 19th-Century landscape painting, you’ll find the answers to such questions in these pages. MAREK KUKULA is the Royal Observatory Greenwich’s Public Astronomer

TRAVIS RECTOR is an astronomer at the University of Alaska Anchorage