In celebration of the IAU’s centenary celebrations (IAU), the Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço (IA) launched the website “Do the Stars Gaze Back? Art inspired by the Universe”, a December calendar that links artworks to milestones in astronomy and space exploration.

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The project, entitled “Do the stars gaze back? – Art inspired by the Universe”, features daily milestones in English and Portuguese, with the aim of combining art and astronomy through a growing archive of artworks in painting, literature, music and cinema. These works are connected to a day of December in the past that was key for our understanding of the Universe.

This project stems from a collaboration between IA and the MA in Communication Design and New Media of the Fine Arts Faculty of ULisboa. It was developed and implemented by Sara Patinho Rodrigues with contents gathered and revised by IA. In the context of the University’s course Projecto I/II, students were given the opportunity to develop a project with the intent of communicating complex information about astronomy to a broader audience. The Instituto de Astrofísica e Ciências do Espaço (IA) is a research institution that aims to develop astronomy, astrophysics and space sciences in Portugal.

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