Spectral Fingerprints are bright lines in an otherwise uniform and continuous spectrum, resulting from the emission or absorption of light. Astronomers use combinations of these bright lines to identify various elements that make up a planet’s atmosphere.
For example, the spectral fingerprint for hydrogen consists of just a few different colored lines, while oxygen is made up of many.
Astronomers have started to use Spectral Fingerprinting to look for and identify planets that contain the right combination of elements to support human life.
NASA's largest and most powerful telescope — the James Web, which launched on Dec 25, 2021 — will be providing it’s first round of images of the cosmos, in July 2022, including spectral fingerprints of many planets that could theoretically support human life in the future.
To celebrate this achievement, and as an homage to my love for space exploration in general, I chose 6 basic elements that the James Web telescope will be searching for and used the colors from their spectral fingerprints to create abstracted looping sequences for each.
This collection is also AVAILABLE FOR SALE AS A SET OF NFTs ON FOUNDATION, from which I will donate 50% of the proceeds to the underserved youth program at the Space Center in Houston TX.
