Heathrow & Other Star-forming Regions

66 page reversible album with dust jacket, 13 x 20 cm, 2012

The gymnasts in this album are all members of the elite squad at Heathrow Gymnastics Club. The images depict various peak positions the gymnasts are required to adopt in training and competition, and transitional moments of introspection before public presentation. British artist Jo Longhurst attended training sessions between 2008-2010, making photographic sketches of the young women in preparation for a new body of work. Over this period, the gymnasts competed successfully in many spectacular events, including the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, the British Artistic Gymnastic Championships and the Youth Olympics. Some gymnasts shone. Others left the squad, unable to maintain the rigorous regime.

The galaxies in the dust jacket mosaic are arranged according to the well-established system developed by American astronomer Edwin Hubble in the 1920s. Hubble Space Telescope reveals that star-forming galaxies were far more prevalent in the clusters of the younger universe than in modern clusters. The images depict familiar types of galaxies which are found today in nearby clusters; elliptical galaxies and lens-shaped galaxies, which may be transition objects between spiral and elliptical galaxies; and also spiral galaxies categorized by the openness of their pinwheel-shaped arms. Many of these have since disappeared through possibly a variety of processes: merger, disruption, and fading. These dense knots of cosmic dust and gas are absorbing light in the center of the nearby emission nebula and star-forming region, NGC 281. If Bok Globules can capture enough mass, they may create stars in their cores. Others, including perhaps these, will just dissipate over time.

The artist acknowledges the generous support of the gymnasts and coaches at Heathrow: Beverly Adeboye, Danusia Francis, Nicole Hibbert, Loriah James, Savannah Lawrence, Charlotte Linsley, Harriet Lymer-Smith, Laura Mitchell, Jojo Perryman, Rebekah Wiltshire, Rebecca Wing, Keshia Wood; Natalia Ilienko-Jarvis, Michele & Vincent Walduck. And the ringer, Mimi Buckley.

Photo credit (orange spreads): NASA, ESA, and The Hubble Heritage Team STScI / AURA . Acknowledgment: P. McCullough STScI. Photo credit (dust jacket): Alan Dressier, Carnegie Institution, and NASA. Co-investigators: Augustus Oemler (Yale University), James E. Gunn (Princeton University), Harvey Butcher (the Netherlands Foundation for Research in Astronomy).