07/28/2024
At our Center for Astrophysics l Harvard & Smithsonian, Kirsten Hall studies celestial objects larger and more mysterious than stars.
A first generation college student reaches for the stars at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory.
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07/27/2024
🏊🥇 🥇 🏊
Two-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Manuel is taking to the pool this summer for her third summer games.
This signed swim cap, in the collection of Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, is from the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio where she became the first Black American woman to win an individual Olympic swimming title for the women’s 100m freestyle.
📸 Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Simone Ashley Manuel
07/25/2024
If you can’t find the thing you need, make it yourself!
After a serious sports injury and partial leg amputation, athlete and inventor Mike Schultz did just that. He realized there was a gap in the sports prosthesis market, so he used his mechanical know-how to make his own.
In 2010, Schultz started the BioDapt Company to make prostheses for other amputee athletes. Among his list of accomplishments, Schultz is a multi–ESPN X Games Medalist and a Paralympic snowboarder.
Schultz competed with this BioDapt prostheses in the 2018 and 2022 Paralympics. It is currently on display in The Smithsonian's Lemelson Center’s exhibit “Change Your Game, Cambia tu juego.”
He wore this Motocross kit during the Adaptative X Games.
Both of these objects are in the collection of our National Museum of American History.
07/24/2024
The cosmos, but make it art.
The connections between art and science can’t be understated and these new images, captured by our Chandra X-ray Observatory to commemorate their 25th anniversary, are no exception.
#1: So many colors, so little time. These fabric samples from our Smithsonian's Archives of American Art pull out the colors from this bright, double star cluster.
#2: Red (Space’s Version). This twisty image of a spiral galaxy (with a supermassive black hole) compliments the curves of this statue from Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.
#3: With a flick of the skirt, this image of the center of our Milky Way Galaxy mirrors the movements of the dancer in this poster from our National Portrait Gallery USA.
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Citations:
1. Lia Cook. Samples for "crazy quilt" series, 1980s. Lia Cook papers, 1968-2012. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Infrared: NASA/JPL/CalTech/Spitzer; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Major, K. Arcand
2. Giacomo Balla, "Boccioni’s Fist—Lines of Force II," 1916–1917/reconstructed 1956–1958/cast 1968. Brass and paint. Gift of Joseph H. Hirshhorn, 1972. Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.
NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: ESO/VLT; Infrared: NASA/ESA/STScI/JWST/PHANGS; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare, J. Major
3. "Loie Fuller" by Jules Cheret, 1893. National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution.
X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/K. Arcand and J. Major
07/23/2024
Art 🤝 astronomy. These cosmic images captured by our Chandra X-ray Observatory are twinning with jewelry, a painting, and a vessel from our collections.
The Chandra X-ray Observatory was deployed into space 25 years ago today, having hitched a ride as the largest payload on Space Shuttle Columbia. In 1999 it began a journey through the cosmos that continues to reveal the beauty of our Universe, including 25 new cosmic images released today.
#1: “Purple space, purple space!” The bright purples in this brooch from our Cooper Hewitt compliments the vibrancy in the rare type of Wolf-Rayet star.
#2: This spooky painting from our Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery literally embodies this region of star formation, more casually referred to as the “hand of God.”
#3: Spacy specks of purple shine through both this young star (with a planet forming disk) and this tea bowl from our Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art.
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Citations:
1. Brooch, 1981; Designed by Keith Alan Lewis, made by Daniel L. Fleckenstein; USA, Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum.
NASA/CXC/SAO; Infrared: (Herschel) ESA/NASA/Caltech, (Spitzer) NASA/JPL/Caltech, (WISE) NASA/JPL/Caltech; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI/Webb ERO Production Team; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Major
2. William Holbrook Beard, "Lightning Struck a Flock of Witches," n.d., oil on cardboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum.
X-ray: NASA/CXO/SAO; Infrared: NASA/ESA/CSA/STScI; Image processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/L. Frattare
3. Tea bowl named "Ubatama" (Black Berry), unknown Raku ware workshop, Style of Hon'ami Koetsu 本阿弥光悦 (1558-1637), 19th century, Kyoto, Kyoto prefecture, Japan, Earthenware with Black Raku glaze, 9.2 × 10.8 cm (3 5/8 × 4 1/4 in), National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, F1898.437a-b.
X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/ESA/STScI; Image Processing: NASA/CXC/SAO/J. Major
07/22/2024
Imagine cannon ballin’ into a pool that was painted by a world-famous artist. 🌊 British artist David Hockney, who is known for depicting swimming pools in his work, is pictured, here, painting an actual swimming pool.
The British artist was inspired by backyard swimming pools almost immediately upon his arrival in Los Angeles in 1964. To Hockney, pools represented a world of leisure and a private space for gay men to enjoy domestic life. He was also particularly interested in the technical challenges of painting water, experimenting with ways to harness light, color, and movement.
In this 1986 photograph from the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art, Hockney is painting the interior of New York City art dealer André Emmerich’s pool.
📷 : André Emmerich Gallery Records and André Emmerich Papers. Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution.
07/20/2024
Happy Moon Landing Day! 55 years ago today, Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to set foot on the Moon. This photo shows both astronauts on the Moon, with Armstrong reflected in the visor of Aldrin's helmet.
07/18/2024
Name that summer 2024 hit song! 🎶 You might find some hints in the captions below. Take your best guess before we reveal the answers in the comments!
#1
🫘 : Espresso machine, 1979, designed by Richard Sapper, from our Cooper Hewitt
📬: Forever Espresso single, 2021, from our Smithsonian National Postal Museum. © USPS. All rights reserved.
☕: Espresso cup, 1990, from our National Museum of American History
#2
🗽 : “The Six Million Dollar Man” lunch box, 1974, from our National Museum of American History
💲 : One dollar bill signed by the Apollo 11 astronauts, 1969, in our National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
👶 : Jones and Brother, William H. Jones, "A Baby," ca. 1860, salted paper print with applied color, from our Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery
#3
🍀: Clover from our Smithsonian Gardens
🌈: “Thunderstorm in the Alps,” 1868, by Frederic Edwin Church from our Cooper Hewitt
🧲: “Pattern of Horseshoes (Textile Design 1 of 2),” 1950-70, by Tommi Parzinger from our Cooper Hewitt
⚾: Babe Ruth and other Red Sox pitchers, 1915, from our National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institute
#4
🐦 : Red and Gold Origami Crane, ca. 2000, by Ira Blount, from our Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum
🐦⬛ : Sihek, 2022, from our Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute
🐤 : Finial in the form of a bird, 206 BCE-220 CE, from our Smithsonian's National Museum of Asian Art 2020
🪶 : Dr. Carla Dove in the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History’s Feather Identification Lab, studying the tail feathers of an Ectopistes migratorius, 2008
07/18/2024
We remember activist, singer, songwriter, and scholar Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon, who spent her lifetime using the power of music to fight for freedom and justice.
As a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee’s (SNCC) Freedom Singers in 1962, Reagon performed across the country, raising funds for the Civil Rights Movement. In addition to recording several solo albums (some with our Smithsonian Folkways Recordings), she founded the Grammy-nominated all-Black women’s a ca****la group Sweet Honey in the Rock in 1973.
As a curator and historian at the Smithsonian, Reagon explored how Black music fueled movements for change. In 1974, she joined the Smithsonian’s Division of Performing Arts, where she was instrumental in establishing the African Diaspora program and recruiting Black artists to participate in the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. Two years later, she founded the Program in Black American Culture at our National Museum of American History. Reagon continued her work as curator emeritus and helped shape our Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture as a member of the museum’s Scholarly Advisory Committee.
“Bernice’s fierce intellect was only matched by her fierce sense of justice she applied to the struggle for civil rights,” said Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III. “As a member of the NMAAHC Scholarly Advisory Council, her wisdom was invaluable in creating the intellectual framework of the museum. Her lyrics and music lift my spirits and embody her lifelong work to challenge America to live up to its ideals: ‘We who believe in freedom will not rest until it comes.’”
We will miss Dr. Reagon and send our heartfelt condolences to her family and community.
📷 : Photograph by Dane A. Penland, 1981, from our Smithsonian Libraries and Archives.
07/17/2024
Happy from these silly little guys at our Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Scientists at the research center are studying how:
🦥 human activity and environmental factors affect sloth populations by conducting a “sloth census”
🦇the 76 species of bats that live on Barro Colorado Island evolve, adapt, and communicate
🐸 ways that artificial fertilization can help rescue Panama’s endangered frogs from extinction
🦋 the wing pattern development in Heliconius butterflies—the only genus that supplement their nectar diet by feeding on pollen
🐬 boat traffic is threatening the survival of dolphins
These photographs are from our Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Explore more about how scientists are researching animal species across the Smithsonian. s.si.edu/4bPtgS7.
07/16/2024
True crime fanatics and armchair detectives: this one is for you. Former nurse Lydia Sherman was arrested for murder in 1871...only after all three of her husbands died under suspicious circumstances.
This set of arsenic tests performed by Yale professor George Frederick Barker proved that all four of the examined victims—two of her husbands and two children—were poisoned under Sherman’s care. A jury found Sherman, nicknamed the “Derby Poisoner,” guilty, and she was sentenced to life in prison.
See these tests and other artifacts that represent various ways in which forensic science has been used in trials over the last 150 years in our National Museum of American History's newest exhibition “Forensic Science on Trial.”
07/16/2024
The National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum, and and the Smithsonian's Archives of American Art’s Lawrence A. Fleischman Gallery at 8th and G streets NW are closed today, July 16, due to a power outage. In-person programs at this location have been canceled. We apologize for the inconvenience. SAAM’s Renwick Gallery remains open. Please check back tomorrow for updates.
07/15/2024
Where will the nation’s top teachers be tomorrow? At our free Smithsonian National Education Summit. Register and join us online! https://smithsonianeducation.swoogo.com/ses2024
At the Smithsonian National Education summit, educators can get free, virtual access to more than 40 sessions featuring compelling speakers.
07/13/2024
So this is why our Smithsonian Gardens team keeps a hairbrush with their gardening tools!
07/12/2024
You may not know his name, but you probably know his music.
Born to migrant workers in Mississippi, Arthur "Big Boy" Crudup began his musical career as a member of the “Harmonizing Four,” a popular gospel music quartet in the 1930s and ‘40s. Recording with the group and solo under various names, Crudup composed hits including “My Baby Left Me” and “That’s All Right,” both of which were later covered by Elvis Presley.
But Crudup did not profit from the songs he wrote, despite their popularity, due to inequities in royalties, which led him to stop recording in the 1950s. He said, “I realized I was making everybody rich, and here I was poor.”
Thanks to the efforts of local activists and what is now the Songwriters Guild of America, Crudup received a portion of his overdue royalties shortly before his death in 1974.
This picture of Crudup, captured by photographer David D. Spitzer and in the collection of our Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, is from a 1973 performance in New York City.
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of David. D. Spitzer, © David D. Spitzer
07/11/2024
Join us for the premier education event of the summer, featuring over 40 sessions led by Smithsonian educators, classroom teachers, and others across the education field.
See you online and in-person next week! A full session line-up and free registration is available here: s.si.edu/EducationSummit2024 Smithsonian Education
07/11/2024
Mentally, we’re here. We're coping with this week’s heat wave like the subject of “Girl with Ice Cream Cone” (1963) by Wayne Thiebaud. The artist was perhaps best-known for inspiring nostalgia through his paintings of food, especially desserts.
Thiebaud’s moody muse for this piece in our Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden's collection was his wife, filmmaker Betty Jean Thiebaud.
07/10/2024
Let there be light! And peacocks! 🦚
The Peacock Room has captivated visitors at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art since it opened in 1923. Designed by artist James McNeill Whistler for a London dining room, museum founder Charles Lang Freer had the room disassembled and shipped to the U.S. in 1904. There, he filled its shelves with ceramics from Syria, Iran, Japan, China, and Korea.
Save the dates! Though the museum typically keeps the shutters closed to avoid damage from sunlight, visitors can see the room in a whole new light at noon on the third Thursday of every month. Upcoming dates:
✨ July 18
✨ August 15
✨ September 19
Won’t be in town? You can take a virtual tour of the Peacock Room! https://s.si.edu/3y2STkl
🖼️ : Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room, 1876-1877, James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, F1904.61
07/08/2024
On Tuesday, July 9, our Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture and National Museum of American History will be closed due to NATO meetings in Washington, DC.
Plan a future visit:
Plan your visit to the world’s largest museum complex with 21 museums and a zoo.
07/08/2024
🎶 Heartbreak is one thing, my ego's another. I beg you, don't embarrass me, cookie-cutter (shark). This will be stuck in our heads all .
Why is the Isistius brasiliensis nicknamed the cookie-cutter shark? At about 20 inches long, they’re known to take large, round, cookie-cutter-shaped bites out of animals like tuna, whales, dolphins, and seals. These sharks approach their prey from below, latch on, bite, and then twist, leaving a round hole.
This shark is from our Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
07/05/2024
☔ THUNDER! 📣 🏈
When the director of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders says she wants her uniforms to look like they’re going to be in the Smithsonian, this is what she means. This 1973 uniform is in the collection of our National Museum of American History.
The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders have been cheering on the football team since 1961.
You can learn more about our Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders uniforms and history on our website! https://s.si.edu/4cqqaVL
07/04/2024
Jennifer Coolidge said it best. “You look like the Fourth of July.” 🎆
The marks the anniversary of the day in 1776 when the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence. The founding document declared separation from Great Britain and outlined the ideals of the new nation—"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."
📷: Photo by Eric Long, 2010, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
07/03/2024
"What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?"
Abolitionist Frederick Douglass praised the Declaration of Independence’s ideals of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, but emphasized they did not extend to all. In a speech on July 5, 1852, he stated, "This Fourth of July is yours, not mine, You may rejoice, I must mourn."
Douglass had a long career as an advocate for the abolition of slavery and universal suffrage. As a writer, he published three autobiographies and a novella, delivered thousands of speeches, and edited the longest continually running Black newspaper of the 19th century.
Learn more about Douglass by experiencing the first joint acquisition between Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery and National Portrait Gallery, “Lessons of the Hour” by Isaac Julien, on view through 2026.
📷: This 1856 photograph of Frederick Douglass is in the collection of our National Portrait Gallery USA.
07/01/2024
“Lovely on a postage stamp? You’d look lovely on a postage stamp!” - Viscount Mabrey, “Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement”
On this National Postage Stamp Day, let’s take a look at some of the many lovely faces which have graced U.S. stamps and are now in the collection of our Smithsonian National Postal Museum.
👑: Grace Kelly
🎙️: Billie Holiday
🏄: Duke Kahanamoku
🎤: Selena
🎬: James Dean
Copyright United States Postal Service. All rights reserved.
06/30/2024
06/30/2024
06/26/2024
Why does space matter to us here on Earth?
Dr. Kimberly Arcand from our Chandra X-ray Observatory explains how innovation in space technology can impact our daily lives–from mammograms to airport baggage checks!
📍: "Mark Bradford: Pickett’s Charge" exhibit at our Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.
Video Description: Woman with blonde hair wearing a black, floral dress answers a question while standing in front of a colorful artwork.
06/25/2024
Activist and self-identified drag queen Marsha P. Johnson advocated for LGBTQ+ youth, q***r people of color, and those living with HIV/AIDS. Though she is perhaps best known for her participation in the 1969 Stonewall Uprising, Johnson continued to fight for marginalized communities throughout her life. Along with trans activist Sylvia Rivera, she cofounded the Street Transvestite Action Revolutionaries (STAR) in 1970. The organization offered housing and support for q***r youth in New York City. (Johnson referred to herself as a “transvestite.” The term transgender was widely used after her death in 1992.)
In a 1992 interview, Johnson said, “I was no one, nobody, from Nowheresville, until I became a drag queen.”
In this scene from our Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture, Johnson is pictured celebrating New York City’s Pride Parade in 1982. s.si.edu/4c5gDDf
📸: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Ron Simmons, detail © Ron Simmons
06/24/2024
Fasten your seatbelts. We’re flying back to a time when women had to fight for their rights to work as flight attendants.
Meet three groundbreakers who, through courage, solidarity, and resilience, paved the way for future generations of women in the sky.
✈️ Ellen Church became the first woman to work as a flight attendant when she convinced a Boeing Air Transport manager that passengers would feel safer with nurses on board in 1930.
✈️ Ruth Carol Taylor filed a complaint with a New York State commission after her application was rejected by Trans World Airlines (TWA) on the basis of race. She eventually accepted a role at Mohawk Airlines in 1957 but was forced to vacate the position due to a policy that required flight attendants to remain unmarried.
✈️ Betty Green Bateman helped squash the no-marriage policy in 1965 when she won a landmark grievance against Braniff Airways, setting a precedent for other airlines to follow suit.
In their pursuit of justice, these women have inspired future generations to stand up for a world where everyone, regardless of their background, can soar. Read more inspiring tales of resilience across the Smithsonian through our new web experience “Kaleidoscope: Patterns of Resilience.” resilience.si.edu/
📷: Four United Airlines flights attendants on the wing of a Douglas DC-8, 1968, from our National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution
06/22/2024
Is everyone talking about Ocean Month without you? No need to feel like a third wheel. Bring your parasol and explore ocean programs and stories from across the Smithsonian: https://s.si.edu/3zlYuCx Fabulous hats welcome.
"On the Beach, Two are Company, Three are None"; Winslow Homer; wood engraving printed in black ink on paper; Gift of Edith Wetmore; Cooper Hewitt
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Videos
We're gearing up for the 2024 Summer Olympics!
We’re so ready for the #2024SummerOlympics—the competition, the hero’s journey, the snacks at watch parties. Sports curator Jane Rogers is getting us in the spirit by highlighting #Olympics objects in our National Museum of American History’s collection.
It’s #NationalZookeeperWeek! Learn more about a day in the life of Shelby and Stacy, animal keepers at our @SmithsonianZoo’s Bird House. Do you have a favorite bird?
If you’re seeing this reel, it’s your sign to visit a Smithsonian museum! Which object do you want to see up close? 🌕: Lunar overshoes worn by Gene Cernan on Apollo 17 with its matching touchable footprint at our @AirAndSpaceMuseum. 🦖: Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops horridus on view at our @SmithsonianNMNH. 👒: Everett Raymond Kinstler, “Katharine Hepburn,” 1982, painting. On view at our @SmithsonianNPG. 🫎: Moose (Alces alces) and American pika (Ochotona princeps) at our @SmithsonianNMNH.
See the Peacock Room in a whole new light!
Let there be light! And peacocks! 🦚 The Peacock Room has captivated visitors at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art since it opened in 1923. Designed by artist James McNeill Whistler for a London dining room, museum founder Charles Lang Freer had the room disassembled and shipped to the U.S. in 1904. There, he filled its shelves with ceramics from Syria, Iran, Japan, China, and Korea. Save the dates! Though the museum typically keeps the shutters closed to avoid damage from sunlight, visitors can see the room in a whole new light at noon on the third Thursday of every month. Upcoming dates: ✨ July 18 ✨ August 15 ✨ September 19 Won’t be in town? You can take a virtual tour of the Peacock Room! https://s.si.edu/3y2STkl 🖼️ : Harmony in Blue and Gold: The Peacock Room, 1876-1877, James McNeill Whistler (1834-1903), National Museum of Asian Art, Smithsonian Institution, Freer Collection, F1904.61
Naturalist. Photographer. Botanical illustrator. 🌿 From the time she was young, Mary Vaux Walcott spent her summers climbing mountains and recording the flowering species she saw along the way. On summer trips to the Canadian Rockies with her husband, geologist and Smithsonian Secretary Charles D. Walcott, Mary Vaux Walcott painted hundreds of watercolors of native flowers. In 1925, the Smithsonian published a selection of 400 of those watercolors in a five-volume edition titled “North American Wild Flowers.” 📚: Smithsonian American Art and Portrait Gallery (AA/PG) Library, @silibraries
Historically close friends ❤️ “Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900–1939,” which received funding from @smithsonianwomen, is on view at @smithsoniannpg. #SmithsonianPride Credit: 🎨: “Natalie with Violin” by Alice Pike Barney. Smithsonian American Art Museum @americanart, Gift of Laura Dreyfus Barney and Natalie Clifford Barney in memory of their mother, Alice Pike Barney. | 📷: “Greek Dance, Neuilly, c. 1906. Smithsonian Institution Archives, Alice Pike Barney Papers, Accession 96-153 | 📷: “Josephine Baker” by Stanislaus Julian Walery, 1926. @smithsonianNPG | 🎨: “Josephine Baker est aux Folies-Bergère” by Michel Gyarmathy, 1936. Private collection. | 📷: “Sylvia Woodbridge Beach” by Berenice Abbott, 1928. © Berenice Abbott/Getty Images @smithsonianNPG | 🎨: “Sylvia Beach” by Paul-Emile Bécat, 1923. Manuscripts Division, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library.
Visit the 2024 Smithsonian Folklife Festival (@smithsonianfolklife) to enjoy free live music, artist demonstrations, hands-on activities, food and more! Indigenous peoples from across the Western Hemisphere will be sharing their cultures on the National Mall and at the National Museum of the American Indian (@smithsoniannmai) from June 26-July 1. ___ ¡Visite el Festival de las Tradiciones Populares 2024 de la Institución Smithsonian para disfrutar de música en vivo gratis, demostraciones de artistas, actividades prácticas, comida y más! Comunidades indígenas de todo el hemisferio occidental compartirán sus culturas en la Explanada Nacional y dentro del Museo Nacional del Indígena Americano del 26 de junio al 1 de julio. #2024Folklife
Dr. Kimberly Arcand on why learning about space matters
Why does space matter to us here on Earth? Dr. Kimberly Arcand from our Chandra X-ray Observatory explains how innovation in space technology can impact our daily lives–from mammograms to airport baggage checks! 📍: "Mark Bradford: Pickett’s Charge" exhibit at our Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden. Video Description: Woman with blonde hair wearing a black, floral dress answers a question while standing in front of a colorful artwork.
Cassiopeia A Sonification
Experience the beauty of the cosmos in a whole new way! 🎧 The Chandra X-ray Observatory has been wowing us with magnificent images of the cosmos for almost 25 years. Now you can listen to those images too thanks to "sonification." This sonification translates the data of exploded star Cassiopeia A into sound. Unique tones represent the elements in the exploded star’s debris—silicon (red), sulfur (yellow), calcium (green), and iron (purple)—in a process opens up images of the Universe to all of us, including people who are blind or have low vision. Join us for a free screening of “Listen to the Universe,” followed by a Q&A with experts Dr. Kimberly Arcand and Elizabeth Landau, at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden on Friday, June 21. Free registration: https://s.si.edu/3yPhvxj #Chandra25 #CosmicJourney Video description: This image of Cassiopeia A resembles a disk of electric light with red clouds, glowing white streaks, red and orange flames, and an area near the center of the remnant resembling a somewhat circular region of green lightning. Four small circles indicate which part of the image is affecting the audio, starting towards the center and moving outwards in all four cardinal directions.
Welcome to ZIP Code!
Did you know there was a time before ZIP codes? Sixty years ago, the Post Office Department introduced the character Mr. ZIP with a catchy tune sung by performer Ethel Merman to help Americans remember to add ZIP codes to their envelopes. Learn more about Mr. ZIP and his very successful career in post offices across the United States with our Smithsonian National Postal Museum. https://s.si.edu/3KjDoas Lyrics: Welcome to ZIP code, learn it today. Send your mail out the five-digit way.
#AtSAAM with Brandon Hill reflecting on the works of Miguel Luciano
Brandon Hill reflects on the work of Miguel Luciano and the complexities of creating sculptures. Which artwork #atSAAM inspires you? 🎨: Miguel Luciano, “Pa-lan-te,” 2017
3D Fashion with the National Museum of American History
Fabric is a delicate material to preserve, so one of the ways we make these objects accessible is through 3D scanning! Our Smithsonian 3D Digitization team creates interactive renderings, allowing all to observe every detail of garments throughout history from your own device. The following outfits are from the collection of our National Museum of American History. Explore more 3D objects, https://s.si.edu/4bqhC0h 🚗: Auto Racing Suit worn by Janet Guthrie in the Indianapolis 500, 1978 👗: Feedsack Dress, 1959 ⚽: Medal Ceremony jersey from 2019 Women's World Cup Final worn by Kelley O'Hara. Do you notice the orange spots? That’s from a locker room silly string celebration! 👒: Escaramuza Charra Dress, 2009 🎾: Tennis Outfit, Worn by Althea Gibson, 1957
3D Mussels
They may look like a snot-filled rock, but freshwater mussels are gems. Each mussel filters gallons of water per day, improving our water quality. These watershed wonders are some of the most endangered animals in the world, making them an urgent conservation priority but difficult to study. Our Smithsonian 3D Digitization and Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History are building a digital library of 3D models from our world class collection of freshwater mussels, improving access to extremely rare species and precious specimens. https://s.si.edu/3w4iSHk #OurSustainablePlanet #EarthMonth Video description: Mussels in the museum’s collection are photographed with a mobile phone, removed from drawers, and rotated in 3D, highlighting their pearly interiors.
Cosmic Journey AR Effects
Jump into the cosmos and share a supernova selfie with new augmented reality (AR) experiences! The new effects feature cosmic objects imaged by the Chandra X-ray Observatory while orbiting in space to help us understand the hottest parts of the Universe. Here’s how to try out the effects yourself: 1️⃣ On Instagram, visit the Smithsonian’s profile. Tap the ✨ icon and explore all five effects. 2️⃣ Not an Instagram user? Visit si.edu/cosmicjourney to explore the cosmos in 3D with [tag smithsonian3d]. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory’s Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts. #CosmicJourney #Chandra25 Video Description: Two people work at laptops in a conference room, then jump into a cosmic augmented reality effect. They explore the Chandra spacecraft effect on the National Mall, take selfies, and jump back to the conference room.
What do musician Duke Ellington, artist Elizabeth Catlett and art historian James A. Porter have in common? They were all educated in Washington, D.C.! Our Smithsonian's Anacostia Community Museum’s new exhibition traces the interconnected stories of the teachers and students who made Washington, DC a truly unparalleled center for Black arts education. The exhibition “A Bold and Beautiful Vision: A Century of Black Arts Education in Washington, D.C., 1900-2000” is now open! Video Description: Montage of museum exhibition including an exterior shot of the museum, close-ups on museum objects and visitors participating in interactive stations.
Continuing our series with local artists, musician Jo Palmer explores a monumental installation by Jeffrey Gibson at our Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery. 🎨: Jeffrey Gibson, “A Little Bit Louder,” 2018 “Watchtower,” 2018 “WITHOUT YOU I'M NOTHING,” 2018
#SmithsonianEclipse2024
See you in the shadows! All Smithsonian eyes were on the eclipse today, from DC's National Mall to central Texas. Educators helped visitors understand the celestial ballet while a Smithsonian scientist took the skies to study the Sun's corona from a jet. Smithsonian locations you can sunspot: Outside our Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in New York City Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Maryland Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia Smithsonian Journeys on a journey in Texas Hill Country You too can enjoy the #SmithsonianEclipse experience at: s.si.edu/WonderAndAweGuide Video Description: Montage of people wearing eclipse glasses outside in different environments.
Finding inspiration with Nam June Paik, artist Peter Chang reflects on the impact of seeing work by the Korean-American artist for the first time at our Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery. Which artwork #atSAAM inspires you? 🎨: Nam June Paik “Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii” 1995, Fifty-one channel video installation (including one closed-circuit television feed), custom electronics, neon lighting, steel and wood; color, sound
Explore “The Future of Orchids: Conservation and Collaboration,” the 28th annual collaboration between Smithsonian Gardens and the U.S. Botanic Garden. The exhibition highlights the numerous challenges facing wild orchids today and offers a glimpse into the work by scientists and conservationists to protect the future of orchids. It features newly commissioned and loaned paintings and sculptures by contemporary multimedia artist Phaan Howng. On view through April 28 in our Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery and National Portrait Gallery USA Kogod Courtyard. #FutureofOrchids
Strong Magnetic Fields Spiraling at the Edge of Milky Way’s Central Black Hole
It takes teamwork to reveal the mysteries of black holes. Today, The Event Horizon Telescope collaboration—which includes scientists from the Center for Astrophysics l Harvard & Smithsonian—took us one step closer towards uncovering the truth about the supermassive black hole at the heart of the Milky Way Galaxy, called Sagittarius A*. Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III reflects on the discovery: "This impressive team of scientists has figured out how to photograph and document these incredibly dense collapsed objects that exert a gravitational pull so strong that nothing—not even light—can escape. Their ability to bring a supermassive black hole tens of thousands of light years away into sharper focus speaks to the Smithsonian's unique ability to help everyone better understand the vast scope of the universe—and our place in it." Hear from the scientists behind the discovery today at 2 p.m. ET: https://bit.ly/3xd8g9n #OurBlackHole #SgrABlackHole
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