The Lunar Gaze

The Lunar Gaze follows the ways in which artists and scientists have sought to capture the Moon, tracing the shift from manual drawings to digital data.

In the early 1600s, astronomers used newly invented telescopes to observe the Moon and record what they saw through careful drawings. These images circulated as engravings, shaping how people understood the Moon for generations. By the 19th century, photography began to replace hand-drawn records, allowing for light itself to capture the lunar surface. Clear images became possible only once telescopes could track the Moon’s path through the sky.

Since the mid-20th century, observation has occurred from orbit. Astronauts in the 1960s used modified cameras to capture perspectives of the Moon not visible from Earth, including on the lunar surface itself. Today, satellites like the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) employ digital sensors and lasers to map the Moon in remarkable detail, revealing where scientific inquiry and visual culture converge.

The Lunar Gaze is part of a broader program expanding on the themes in The Infinite Look: A History of Gazing Skyward (Level 5 Main Library) through a series of satellite displays across our library spaces. This program also includes Welcome to the Frontier: From Science Fiction to Hyperstition (Law Library) and Collection Encounters (Level 3 Main Library).

Top image: Full Moon captured by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera. 7 December 2017. Credit: NASA Goddard

Accessibility: UNSW Art & Design Paddington Library is wheelchair accessible and there is step-free access to the exhibition space. Displays and explanatory texts can be seen and read from a seated position and the exhibition includes large-text artwork labels.