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Seeing Infrared. Visualizations Beyond the Visible Dr. Robert Hurt Spitzer Science Center. Our Staff. Public Affairs Gordon Squires, PA Lead/News Chief Robert Hurt, Imaging Scientist Tim Pyle, Animation & Illustration Whitney Clavin, PAO/press writer (JPL)
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Seeing Infrared Visualizations Beyond the Visible Dr. Robert Hurt Spitzer Science Center
Our Staff • Public Affairs • Gordon Squires, PA Lead/News Chief • Robert Hurt, Imaging Scientist • Tim Pyle, Animation & Illustration • Whitney Clavin, PAO/press writer (JPL) • Gay Yee Hill, PAO/press writer (JPL) • Education & Public Outreach • Michelle Thaller, E/PO Lead • Doris Daou, E/PO Deputy Lead • Linda Hermans, Content development • Jim Keller, Webmaster & Video prod.
Humble Beginnings SIRTF (a.k.a. Spitzer Space Telescope) “Aliveness Test” 3 September 1993
Alive Indeed (and KICKING!)
IRAC: 4-Channel Imager • 256 x 256 array • 4 channels in two sets • Coverage does not fully overlap • Wavelengths of 3.6, 4.5, 5.8 & 8.0 µm • Shorter wavelengths: starlight • Longer wavelengths: dust/PAH’s (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) • Small detectors + high sensitivity + patience • = images to rival even Hubble’s ACS!
MIPS - Long Wavelengths • Detectors at 24, 70, 160 µm • Light is mainly thermal dust • Excellent tracer of star formation and protostars! • Resolution degrades rapidly • 24 µm is 3 times lower than 8 µm • 160 µm is 6 times lower than 24 µm and 20 times lower than 8 µm!
IRS - Pesky Squiggly Lines • Infrared Spectrograph from 5–35 µm • Sensitive detector of cosmic chemistry • Over half of cycle 2 time devoted to IRS • Always a challenge to the visualizer, those pesky squiggly lines…
An Embarrassment of Riches • IRAC provides 4 channels by itself • MIPS adds 1 (or more) channels • May need contrast with visible, other bands • How does one handle all this? • Use more than 3 color channels • Package images with multiple panels, insets • Mix up the channel mappings if useful • Hopefully don’t overload the press & public!
The Tools • Images & Illustration • Photoshop • + FITS Liberator • Illustrator • Animation • After Effects • Lightwave 3D
Measuring Image Success • Having one published • Yes! • Having one published and appear on Astronomy Picture of the Day • Yes! • Having one published but mistaken for a Hubble Image • Yes! • Having a published Hubble Image mistaken for a Spitzer Image • Not yet, but…
Astro Visualization Group • As result of NEI Focus Group at AMNH, “astro-vis” mailing list formed • Open to anyone interested http://groups.yahoo.com/group/astro-viz/