Touches the universe

2001/06/06 Elhuyar Zientzia

• Astronomia
• Bibliografia

The American astronomer Noreen Grice has collected some of the Hubble Telescope images and adapted them for blind people to see in his book Touch the Universe. Hubble has transformed the planets and galaxies photographed into tangible lines, peaks and depressions so that people with visual problems feel what they can't see.

The book is aimed at the blind and the spectators. The touch images are colorful and each one has a braille text and a code. The code indicates to the reader the color that represents each line and peak. For example, the colorful image of Saturn is accompanied by an explanation. The shades of blue indicate the size of clouds and changes in the chemical composition. Green and yellow indicate the fog. The colors are represented by contact bands that cross Saturn and the rings that the planet has by the summits.

Astronomer Noreen Grice also published the book Toca las estrellas. He has been teaching astronomy to the blind for 15 years.