Ágora is an unprecedented artwork that combines compact physical size, word-and-image
poetry encoded holographically, propagating light, and large-scale temporality in a perpetual interplanetary orbit.
Created: 1986
Launched: January 08, 2024
Launch time: 2:18 a.m. ET
Launch location: Space Launch Complex 41, Cape Canaveral, Florida
Read the New York Times article about Ágora: Online and Print
ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATIONS OF THE CENTAUR V ROCKET
On January 9, 2024, Alfons Diepvens, at MPC Observatory Code C23, Olmen, Belgium, photographed the Centaur V rocket in space (seen in motion as a trail in the middle of the image). At the start of the 50 minute exposure it was 407,734 km from Earth and by the end it was 415,377 km further away from our home planet. The Moon is 384,400 km from Earth so the Centaur V was already beyond the Moon at that time.
This time-lapse video (reversed for clarity), was recorded on January 9, 2024, by Guy Wells, from the Northolt Branch Observatories, London, and shows the Centaur V rocket as the one black dot near the center of the frame that is slowly moving towards the lower left (all the other "dots" are stars). The video was recorded from a distance of 397,600 km from Earth (first frame) to 401,300 km from Earth (last frame). The perceivable curvature of its path is an effect of parallax and is due to the fact that the Earth was rotating; the "curve" does not represent the motion of the rocket itself. Special thanks to Daniel Bamberger.
On January 9, 2024, Peter Birtwhistle, from the The Great Shefford Observatory, West Berkshire, England, photographed the Centaur V rocket in space (seen in motion as a trail in the middle of the image). At the start of the 10 minute exposure it was 396,800 km from Earth and by the end it was 1,500 km further away. The Moon is 384,400 km from Earth so the Centaur V was alread further away from us than the Moon at that time. Special thanks to Sam Deen.
