Stargazing and the "Data Sublime"

Abstract

This paper explores the codependency between the explosion of information technology and human imagination, focusing specifically on stargazing and celestial imaging. Thanks to rapid technological advent in the 20th century, Astronomy, the "science of enhanced looking", has become inseparable from digital technology. Computation has not only accelerated mediated or enhanced observation, but also made celestial imaging ubiquitous. Images of astronomical bodies regularly capture our imagination as the pinnacle of science and aesthetics as relayed through NASA's and ESA's public outreach.

The feeling of awe and the existential element that traditionally accompanied stargazing are now apparent in the information society's relation to data. Drawing on Julian Stallabrass' concept of the "data sublime," the resemblance between looking at the night sky and looking at data becomes more evident. Considering stargazing as a scientific and aesthetic phenomenon, powered by data science I then turn to two aspects inherent in data analysis: the historical dimension (understanding the historical narrative from the myriad of data, similar to the way we read the creation and demise of galaxies from heaps of data relating to traces they left in the universe, our readable sky) and predictive analysis. The questions I raise include: How are we to understand the temporal dimensions inherent in stargazing (f.e., its "time-travel" quality, as we look back in time at travelling light)? What opportunities do the new era of data-mining techniques, AI and machinic stargazers have in store for astronomy? How are we to conceptualize the new breed of professional astronomy data-miners and new uses of “old” and new data? What can artists and designers contribute to this new understanding?