Bold colour images from telescopes act as extraordinary ambassadors for astronomers because they pique the public’s curiosity. But are they snapshots documenting physical reality? Or are we looking at artistic spacescapes created by digitally manipulating astronomy images?
This lecture provides a tour of how original black and white data are converted into the colour images gracing magazines and websites.
Often the attempt by scientists to represent their discoveries all but drowns out the voice of visual literacy. Yet sometimes in this battle, between the cultures of science and visual art, both sides win. This struggle will be presented from the perspective of a professional astronomer who has coordinated the Hubble Heritage Project and also trained as an artist. The lecture will outline how artistic techniques – such as colour contrast and composition – can be used by professional astronomers and citizen scientists to produce a more engaging image with greater clarity for the non-expert public.

With respect to popularising science, her forte is producing striking astronomy outreach images from research data. At Space Telescope Science Institute, which runs NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope, she co-ordinated the Hubble Heritage Project’s first two years of image production. Her images appear in prestigious magazines, popular and educational books, and numerous websites. Her outreach work is well-served by her education, firstly at Ontario College of Art and Design University, and then, by her astrophysics degrees from University of Toronto (BSc) and Australian National University (PhD).