New Mexico State University senior art major Kayla Blundell put her sculpture skills to the test, weaving together astronomy and artwork through a partnership with NMSU astronomy assistant professor Juie Shetye to create a vision of a total solar eclipse. A total eclipse is when the moon blocks the sun, revealing only a glowing halo of light.
Shetye made the project possible with funds from a National Science Foundation grant that allowed her to engage students in the arts for a public outreach project. The result of their collaboration is Blundell’s artistic expression integrating the beauty of the sun, the moon and a total eclipse with an understanding of the science behind it.
“We spoke about what I wanted in terms of what topic we should work on, and then Kayla had the freedom to create her vision as an artist,” said Shetye.
While teaching in England before joining NMSU, Shetye was part of an art-space project. She wanted to bring the concept to her students in New Mexico and make it not only part of her teaching at the university but also part of her science community outreach.
“One of the ways to make science attractive is to have something that stands out, and art stands out,” Shetye said. “My aim is to help my undergraduate students. They’re not just solving equations. I want them to understand concepts. Art and hands-on experiments are the best way to do that.”
Blundell prepared for the project by attending Shetye’s classes to learn more about the eclipse research. She also took a tour of the Dunn Solar Telescope and the Solar Observatory Visitor’s Center in Sunspot, New Mexico, where her art now resides. But the most inspiring part was joining Shetye and her research group on a field trip to Granbury, Texas, last year. Blundell had the opportunity to experience a total eclipse while the team conducted research about atmospheric waves related to the event.
“The process was new for me, combining science and art and figuring out how to translate science into art so other people can understand it.” Blundell said. “When they see my interpretation of it, it’s important how they react to it.”
Primed with information and inspiration, the next step for Blundell was envisioning a solar eclipse as a tactile experience – a sculpture to view and touch. She made several sketches until one idea stuck.
“One of the things that we spoke about was sunlight, the colors of sunlight,” Shetye said. “That was also something the sculpture had to speak about. So, shapes have colors, wavelengths starting from blue near the sun and red the furthest away. To capture the wavelengths of the sunlight, that was really something, especially with the spectrographs that we had in the telescope. It’s art from a science point-of-view.”
Blundell was energized by the sun’s different wavelengths, but her sculpture also depicts features on the surface of the sun as well as the spectrum of sunlight. Her sculpture is circular and those who go to the Solar Observatory Visitor’s Center can walk all around it and observe it from different angles. The center has an information sheet that explains the process to visitors.
“Each of the acrylic shapes that hang down, they’re different sun characteristics as well,” Blundell said. “They show the wavelengths of the sun and the characteristics of the sun. Some show the solar flares or sunspots. Some show when it’s in totality and then when it’s in the partial eclipse and how it’s different in the corona of the sun.”
The acrylic shapes extending from the pendant focus on the sun’s characteristics and how it appears during an eclipse. They were designed digitally, and a computer-aided design software program was used for laser-cutting. The sculpture includes 14 strings, each four feet long, with 10 shapes per string, totaling 140 shapes, spaced evenly at 1.8 inches. They are connected with nylon cord.
A hands-on part of Blundell’s sculpture includes a 3D-printed model of the moon from NASA that she modified, printed in four segments, and then glued, spray-painted, and sealed with epoxy resin. The bottom half of the moon involved precise cutting, welding and rod-fitting. In the center, hand-cut acrylic half-moons were added with the artist’s Dremel and glued to the metal.
Shetye and Blundell plan to take their art on the road to public schools this semester, adding additional activities like a glass jar with ferrofluid that Blundell put together, which is attracted to poles of a magnet. The ferrofluid demonstrates how the sun interacts with Earth through magnetic force. Another part of the ferrofluid display shows how the aurora borealis, caused by charged particles from the sun and carried by the solar wind, interacts with Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere, resulting in colorful displays of light.
“Kayla came up with all these experiments that we can setup,” Shetye said. “One is using steel marbles to paint magnetically. So, what started as a science-plus-art project is something we can use in our labs and design a curriculum to augment our undergraduate education and use for community outreach in schools.”
Shetye’s work with Blundell and her team of research students resulted in two papers published in the Bulletin of the Astronomical Society: “Dance of Shadows: A Unique Way to Study Eclipse Using Household Items and a Bit of Creativity,” about Blundell’s art project; and “Characterization of Atmospheric Gravity Waves Observed During a Total Solar Eclipse in Granbury, Texas,” a comprehensive analysis of potential atmospheric gravity waves during the 2024 total eclipse.
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CUTLINE: Steps that New Mexico State University art student Kayla Blundell followed while building her eclipse sculpture. Left panels show the acrylic sheets and discs and Blundell working on the design. Right panels show the moon cutouts and metal bracket. (Photo credit: Kayla Blundell)
CUTLINE: From left: NMSU senior art major Kayla Blundell spent months collaborating with NMSU astronomy assistant professor Juie Shetye on a sculpture that blended the science of astronomy in a way to express a total solar eclipse in a sculpture. (NMSU photo by Josh Bachman)
CUTLINE: NMSU senior art major Kayla Blundell demonstrated additional activities she designed for public school outreach efforts like glass jars with ferrofluid which attract to poles of a magnet. The ferrofluid demonstrates how the sun interacts with Earth through magnetic force. Another part of the ferrofluid display shows how the aurora borealis, caused by charged particles from the sun and carried by the solar wind, interacts with Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere, resulting in colorful displays of light. (NMSU photo by Josh Bachman)
CUTLINE: Closeup of Kayla Blundell's model of the moon, which was printed in four segments, and then glued, spray-painted and sealed with epoxy resin. (Photo credit: Kayla Blundell)
CUTLINE: New Mexico State University art student Kayla Blundell’s completed sculpture inside the Solar Observatory Visitor’s Center in Sunspot, New Mexico. (Photo credit: Kayla Blundell)