Astronomy Art Embracing the Truth

“As difficult as it may seem, the secret to living in harmony is accepting others just as they are.”

~Ellen Jaffe Jones, Kitchen Divided

This faint emission nebula bears a close resemblance to the outline of the state of California, USA. This nebula is incredibly difficult to observe. That hasn’t deterred astro-photographers from capturing its beauty, however! Not as gigantic, bright, or colorful as its counterparts, these dim objects in the night sky have plenty of fans who can appreciate their charm. Glimmering in darkness, they play harmonious songs in a distant space as indispensable members of the deep sky ensemble.

Naming these nebulae in the old days was like a race in which the fastest runner could get the right without restraints. The absence of a naming system in naming nebulae left the earlier astronomers the space to fuel up their imagination as much as they desire. The nebula in this astronomy art print is named after one of the states.

Naming somehow infers ownership of an object, like an artist delivering a name to his creations. This principle does not apply for the celestial objects. All humans indulging themselves in the treasures hidden in the boundless starry sky. No humans could have ownership of the stars and galaxies. Pushing the “pay” button on the websites of the star registration companies does not infer actual ownership. Whether it makes sense to name something without ownership is a matter of personal preference. While most nebulae are identified by numbers, a select few are given proper names. As of today, there isn’t any encyclopedia standardizing the numbering system and naming methods of these nebulae. The outdated New General Catalogue (NGC) which contains duplicated and missing items has not yet been replaced. Why are all objects in the solar system named then? Are some celestial objects more equal than the others?

The deep sky objects like the nebula in this astronomy art print are all glimmering in darkness. As the main component of this nebula is hydrogen alpha gas, it appears red in pictures taken with the one-shot camera. Like other faint nebulae, its enigma is revealed only when humans are patient enough to take long exposure pictures of it. Technological advancement has made it possible to reduce the time for taking astrographs by using fast telescopes. Still, the quality of the astrographs is in direct proportion to the integration time. Fast telescopes are no exception to this rule. Quite a number of my counterparts started out with peerless ambition, aiming to conquer the world with amazing pictures of the universe. They have got the best equipment which don’t come cheap. The time in integrating the pictures put them off eventually. Making it a habit is no easy feat.

Taking an image of these celestial objects for one night is not an arduous climb. Spending more than 6 nights in a month is another story. The reward of patience is tempting. The pulchritude of world beyond human reach is captured by those the persistent few. My worries and anxieties subside when I take the astrographs under the starry nights. I am just an insignificant particle in the immense universe, disappearing into nowhere when lights close upon my eyes. That’s how the name of my exhibitions came. Humans tend to aggrandize their competence and achievements, but who are we in the vastness of the cosmos. Scientists are exerting their best efforts to solve the conundrum of the uncharted terrains, yet there are still mysteries than puzzle them. The most capable individuals can’t even defend themselves when the comets strike the Earth.

Humans tend to gloss over the fact that whatever they gather in this journey will desert us when we arrive at the final destination. Who can escape from this fate? Everyone acknowledges that death haunts us like an invisible spectrum. Some pathetic individuals choose to live the best of their lives by ripping off the rights of other civilians. From time immemorial, the collective history of mankind has been shaped by ruthless leaders of the states who enjoy bloodshed. The lives of humans are cheap in their eyes, yet each of their organs carry a weighty price tag. The rise of mass literary around the world has not brought man-made disasters like this to the end. Rather it emboldens them to the civilians’ rights with the help of surveillance. Whether one wants to admit it, the call of freedom is as clairvoyant as ever in everyone’s heart.

Greed may be the reason behind humans’ unwillingness to live in harmony with one another. In 2009, a South Korean actress committed suicide after suffering from a series of sexual abuses from the tycoons. Not only that, she was a victim of battery when she refused to be offered as a sexual sacrifice by her talent agency. Living as a puppet, she was forced by the talent agency to undergo sterilization. The only thing she could do was to jot down her abusers’ names and the details of the events in the 7-page death notes. Her unexpected demise brought the inhumane treatment of the entertainment industry to light. Those having abused her are shielded from criminal prosecutions apart from the director of her talent agency. The nature desire of mankind has made those in the weaker positions the vulnerable victims. Men and women stand an equal chance of being sexually exploited.

My wish of having justice be rendered in every place is a far-fetched dream. The mega-rich and authoritative figures and their descendants can hardly be charged for violating the criminal law. Even with enough evidence for criminal prosecutions, nobody has the guts to taint the names of the renowned families. The term “human rights” has never crossed their minds. Those inferior to them in social status are regarded as humans capable of making decisions. Having the empathetic range of a teaspoon, the protests demanding civilians’ rights across cities and towns are meaningless to them. It would be a fatal mistake to assume that the wealthy fellows must be rotten from the core, however. In the 20^th century, millions of affluent fellows were tragically killed along with the intellectuals in the communists’ revolutions. These massive killings left an irreparable scar to the economy and political landscape of the communists’ countries since then.

It worries me when my friends feel that the opulent fellows owe them and the society everything, as if the latter have a responsibility to them. Not every of them amass their fortune by taking advantage of the innocent fellows. Greed is like a pit where even the destitute fellows can fall victim of. Humans need fair and transparent systems where everyone can be assessed in an impartial way.

The only way humans could glisten like the stars, living in harmony with one another in my astronomy art prints, is to have the courage to rise from cinders.

My astronomy art prints will speak to your minds and guide you, finding the right answers through the series of blog posts.