Rogue Objects
the science
Rogue Objects is based on emerging astrophysics research regarding brown dwarfs, a lesser-known class of celestial bodies that are neither planets nor stars, but somewhere in between with regards to mass and brightness. Some brown dwarfs orbit stars, like planets do; other brown dwarfs host planets, like stars do. Brown dwarfs emit their light primarily in the infrared, just outside the wavelengths we can see with our own eyes. And whereas stars have infused every aspect of our culture for millennia — art, love songs, poetry, social structures, divination — we’ve barely broken ground on our cultural relationship with brown dwarfs.
team
Rogue Objects is produced by Alysa Nahmias of AJNA Films (Wildcat on Amazon Prime; The Tuba Thieves at Sundance) and live art producer Alyssa Simmons (Perelman Performing Arts Center), with musical composition by Sultana Isham (most recently, score for “The Neutral Ground” on PBS/POV and “Stax Records” on HBO).
science advisors
Dr. Johanna Vos (Assistant Professor and Royal Society/Science Foundation Ireland University Research Fellow at Trinity College Dublin)
Dr. Jackie Faherty (Senior Scientist and Senior Education Manager, jointly appointed in the Department of Astrophysics and Department of Education at the American Museum of Natural History; co-founder of the brown dwarfs in NYC research group)
Dr. Brittany Miles (51 Pegasi b Fellow and Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Arizona)
Dr. Daniella Bardalez-Gagliuffi (Assistant Professor of Astronomy at Amherst College)
partners
Rogue Objects has received seed support from the HERE Arts Center, MacArthur Foundation, Sundance Institute, Jerome Foundation, Opera America, and Camargo Foundation. It’s based on the research of the brown dwarf astrophysics group at the American Museum of Natural History.
This work is currently in development. Reach out to discuss potential partnerships.