Accession No
6541
Brief Description
18-inch hand-painted globe of the planet Jupiter, by Ralph Turner, USA, 1974
Origin
[Sheridan, Oregon] USA
Maker
Turner, Ralph
Class
astronomy; demonstration
Earliest Date
1974
Latest Date
1974
Inscription Date
1974
Material
fibreglass; paint; pastel; ink; metal (stainless steel)
Dimensions
diameter = 18-inches (46cm)
Special Collection
Provenance
Purchased from Bonhams, 580 Madison Ave., New York, NY, USA. Lot 5, The Space History Sale, 08/04/2014.
Inscription
RT
1974
Description Notes
18-inch hand-painted globe of the planet Jupiter, by Ralph Turner, USA, 1974.
Fibreglass cast globe sphere, with airbrush and pastel artwork directly applied. Triangular grid in black ink on top of artwork. Longitude marked on grid around equator every 30o. Northern latitude marked along line of 0o longitude, every 15o. Southern latitude marked along line of 180o longitude, every 15o. Manuscript signature reads “RT 1974”. Stainless steel ring at north pole of globe.
Artwork is based on the photographs taken in November and December 1973 by the NASA spacecraft Pioneer 10, during the first ever spacecraft flyby of the planet.
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO HANG GLOBE FROM RING.
References
Events
Description
Since the 1960s, spacecraft have enabled astronomers to get up-close views of the planets and moons of our Solar System. One of the best ways to accurately represent the data and images sent back by such craft is in a globe. In 1964 Gerald Kuiper, Director of the Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at the University of Arizona, hired the artist and sculptor Ralph Turner to help the Laboratory make precise relief globes of the Moon, using new images sent back by NASA probes in preparation for the Apollo Moon landings. Turner would go on to have a distinguished career in astronomical modelling, making globes for NASA, planetariums, museums, observatories, and a variety of research institutes.
This globe of Jupiter was hand painted by Turner in 1974 using new images of the planet sent back by NASA’s Pioneer 10 spacecraft. Pioneer 10 was launched in March 1972 and in November 1973 it became the first probe to make a close approach of Jupiter, flying within 81,000 miles of the planet and transmitting the first ever close-up images of it back to Earth.
01/08/2014
Created by: Joshua Nall on 01/08/2014
FM:47053
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