Empire Arts Center to showcase fabulous images of Earth from space

Document Type

News Article

Publication Date

6-2011

Campus Unit

University of North Dakota

Abstract

“Earth As Art Three”, an exhibition of stunning images from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA’s) Landsat satellites, will showcase a whole new perspective on our home planet. The exhibit takes place at the Empire Arts Center, Grand Forks, Monday, June 20 through Friday, July 15; it also will be open Saturday, July 16 as part of the city’s Art & Wine Walk. An opening reception for the public will be held from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, June 20.

The “artists” for the “Earth as Art Three” show are the Landsat 5 and Landsat 7 satellites, which orbit at an average distance of 438 miles above the Earth’s surface.

While studying the images that these satellites beam down daily, researchers are often struck by the sheer beauty of the scenes. Earth’s geographic attributes can be a surprising source of awe-inspiring art.

Instead of paint, the medium for these works of art is light. But the Landsat satellite sensors don’t see light as human eyes do; instead, they see radiant energy reflected from the Earth’s surface in certain wavelengths, or bands, of red, green, blue and infrared light. When these different bands are combined into a single image, remarkable patterns, colors and shapes emerge.

Twenty pieces of Earth art will be on display 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday for the duration of the show. Please call ahead to ensure viewing availability, 701-746-5500; admission is free.

“Earth as Art Three” is sponsored by the Empire Arts Center, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS); the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Data Center; and the NASA North Dakota Space Grant Consortium. Space Grant, headquartered at the Department of Space Studies at the UND John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences, is consortium of all four-year, two-year, and tribal colleges in the state. Space Grant supports and enhances the space science research and education infrastructure in North Dakota.

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