“Cosmic Messengers” is an oil painting depicting the 16 Psyche asteroid in false colors (pink and purple). There are several vertical lines representing energy signatures of different precious metal isotopes found on 16 Psyche’s surface, which show the asteroid with inverted coloring. The Iron and Nickel lines are highlighted, with Iron-54 in red and Nickel-60 and Nickel-58 in green.

Cosmic Messengers

Veronica Keff

January 13th, 2025

Major: Astrophysics, minor in Mathematics

Genre/Medium: Acrylic and Oil Paint on Canvas

About the work:

“Cosmic Messengers” is a 24” x 30” oil painting inspired by the Psyche mission’s use of the Gamma Ray Spectrometer (part of the Gamma-Ray and Neutron Spectrometer instrument). This process involves cosmic rays (energetic light rays from dying stars) striking the Psyche asteroid and exciting atoms on its surface. As the atoms return to their ground state, they release gamma rays, which are captured by the Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS). In the painting, vertical lines represent this emitted energy, each corresponding to a component of Psyche’s composition, in this case metals like Iron, Nickel, and Iridium.

The green lines signify different isotopes of nickel, with Nickel-60 on the left and Nickel-58 on the right. A red line between them represents Iron, specifically Iron-54, found on Psyche’s surface. These elements are crucial for the Psyche mission, as the relative abundances of Ni/Fe shed light on planetary development and could help answer if Psyche is the remnant of a planetesimal core.

Since Psyche has not yet been directly imaged from orbit, I used false colors to map its surface in pink and purple. The painting reflects the whimsical side of science, where at times reality becomes stranger than fantasy.

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Psyche Inspired is a program that brings undergraduate students from any discipline or major together to share the excitement, innovation, and scientific and engineering content of NASA’s Psyche mission with the public in new ways through artistic and creative works. This year’s Psyche Inspired cohort is known as the Iridium Class. These works are posted in the gallery and highlighted on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. View the full resolution images in the image gallery. There are many ways to get involved with NASA’s Psyche mission. Learn how you can be a part of the Psyche mission through our “Get Involved” pages at https://psyche.asu.edu/get-involved/ and https://science.nasa.gov/mission/psyche/ways-to-participate/. To learn more about the overall Psyche mission, visit nasa.gov/psyche or jpl.nasa.gov/missions/psyche.

Date Added: 01-10-2025
Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/Veronica Keff - Psyche Inspired

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