Together with my collegue Johan Van Looveren at the Media & Information Design department of LUCA School of Arts, we visualised data collected by a team of European astronomers led by Prof Leen Decin of KU Leuven’s Institute of Astronomy.
Through the James Webb Space Telescope – NASA’s most powerful telescope – the team discovered the presence of water vapour, sulphur dioxide and sand clouds on the exoplanet WASP-107b. Using specialised imaging techniques, Klaas Verpoest and Johan Van Looveren captured this almost indecipherable data (an endless stream of numbers) from a planet never really seen.
The results of this groundbreaking study were published by the leading scientific journal Nature on 15 November 2023. Immediately afterwards, the news found resonance in the national and international press (VRT news, De Standaard, De Morgen, HLN, The Guardian, USA Today, The Independent, Forbes…).
Credits:
Illustration: LUCA School of Arts, Belgium/ Klaas Verpoest (visuals), Johan Van Looveren (typography).
Science: Achrène Dyrek (CEA and Université Paris Cité, France), Michiel Min (SRON, the Netherlands), Leen Decin (KU Leuven, Belgium) / European MIRI EXO GTO team / ESA / NASA