This rainbow aurora depicts a spectroscopy graph of elements that scientists are searching for in the atmospheres of exoplanets—planets outside of our Solar System. Spectroscopy data is collected when a planet passes over the star which it orbits. The James Webb Space Telescope collects light as it passes through the atmosphere of the planet, and the resulting data then takes the form of a spectrum, interposed with black bars where light is absent. This pattern of light and darkness—a spectral chiaroscuro—allows scientists to determine which elements are present in a planet’s atmosphere. This VR work allows viewers to travel to a hypothetical exoplanet and immerse themselves in one of these spectral light graphs, which takes the form of a rainbow aurora borealis. What appears as a mountain range on the horizon is in fact a line graph consisting of the spectral signature for water, already identified by Webb as existing on exoplanet WASP-96b.

Ashley Zelinskie is Brooklyn-based conceptual artist utilizing a post-New Media approach, wherein the media employed are merely vehicles in service of underlying concepts, she is attempting the process of translating our vast history into an eternal and universal language, while focusing a lens on our place as a small part of a larger whole. Her works span a variety of media, from large- and small-scale sculpture to canvas and print works, each created using cutting edge technology such as 3D printing, computer-guided laser cutting, and satellite plating technology. Her work focuses on visualizing data in abstract forms and finding new and interesting ways to describe complex ideas.

Zelinskie’s work has been featured by The New York Times, Vice, Popular Science, and Hyperallergic. Her work forms part of the permanent collection of the US Department of State Art in Embassies Program, has been exhibited at Sotheby’s New York and most recently the ArtScience Museum in Singapore. Zelinskie is a former resident of New Inc.—the New Museum’s Art and Technology Incubator—and the Shapeways x Museum of Art and design “Out of Hand” exhibition residency. She is currently working in collaboration with NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Smithsonian and is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design.