Welcome to Excavating Innovation, a new bi-monthly interview series with the visionaries and trailblazers who call Space Valley home. Each interview will reveal how these remarkable individuals dig deep into their scientific explorations, artistic endeavors and more to unearth groundbreaking ideas. In this edition, we’re thrilled to feature Thomas Ashcraft, an artist, independent scientist, and the mind behind The Observatory of Heliotown.
Thomas Ashcraft is a true Renaissance figure in Space Valley. Part scientist, part sculptor, and part cultural explorer, he is a NASA Citizen Scientist, radio astronomer, and multimedia artist whose work bridges the realms of scientific discovery and creative exploration. With a background in natural philosophy from McGill University, Montreal, Ashcraft has spent decades self-teaching, experimenting, and uncovering cosmic phenomena through radio astronomy and optical imaging.
From his home in rural New Mexico, Ashcraft operates a 24/7 observatory that monitors Jovian radio storms, transient luminous events (TLEs) like sprites, and unexplained lightning signatures in Earth’s atmosphere. From daily solar flare patrols to “Jupiter Twitch” kinetic sculptures, his work bridges the tangible and intangible, blending art and astronomy in uniquely inspiring ways.
Join us as we dive into a conversation Ashcraft about his work and how Space Valley plays a critical role:
New Mexico is known for its rich cultural history and vibrant landscapes. What brought you to New Mexico? How has the state influenced your creative process and scientific pursuits?
In the 1980s I had been living and working in the Arkansas Ozarks as an artisan, silversmith, sculptor and cultivator of medicinal plants.
I started to feel irrepressible urges to pack up my shop and studio and move to this mythical realm called New Mexico. It was a strong calling and so I “followed my nose” so to speak to Santa Fe.
Within months of moving, another self in me, a scientific self, started to emerge. With the help of books and our local library I began to study the sky and practice astronomy.
Given the average of three hundred days per year of sunshine and clear skies, early on I gravitated toward solar studies and heliospheric observations. I acquired a modest optical refractor telescope and began a daily solar flare patrol. Over time I added hydrogen-alpha lens capabilities and other special filters and I began to see solar flares originate and progress.
My capabilities were becoming complex and I established my own niche lab and science station called The Observatory of Heliotown and found my place in Space Valley and Rio Grande Research Corridor. A community opened up to me state-wide.
I knew I was falling in love – with the sun.
Tell us more about your work for NASA tracking radio storms on Jupiter.
In the 1990s, in a personal quest for more acute sensitivity and a desire to expand my observing spectrum I started to become interested in radio astronomy. I had visited the Very Large Array near Socorro, New Mexico and it inspired me with its dynamic function, sculptural beauty, sense of discovery and scientific importance.
I got motivated to build my own radio telescope system even though it might just become a “Very Small Array”.
This required learning how to build electrical circuits and made me reach out for community and technical guidance. In a stroke of serendipity I discovered that NASA sponsored a citizen science initiative called the Radio Jove Project. This project mentored aspiring planetary astronomers on how to build an actual radio telescope for receiving radio emissions from the interaction of Jupiter and its innermost moon Io. Now it is thirty years since inception and our group is flowering with research grade observations and peer reviewed papers as we monitor Jupiter and Io and map its powerful radio storms.
What do you do when you’re not doing science with NASA?
Aside from being an independent scientist, I have another life as an artist and sculptor, and this is how I support my scientific endeavors. I am manifesting something I call The Sky and Culture Pavilion, where people can experience sensations from radio emissions from the sun, space dust, meteoric fireballs, and multiple other outer space phenomena. I am inspired by the idea of centuries old “moon viewing pavilions” in China and the Orient
I am also building a kinetic sculpture called “The Jupiter Twitch”, which responds physically to Io-induced Jovian radio emissions in the sky as sensed and captured by the radio telescope.
I am also manifesting a “jupebox” of audio specimens from some of the great Jupiter storms I have captured over the years. It’s coming along.
What are sprites, and how did you discover them?
Sprites are mind-blowing! They are majestic and huge in the sky.
Sprites were only first serendipitously photographed and thus proven to exist in 1989. That is just 35 years ago!
A sprite is a type of lightning generated transient luminous event which is a short-lived electrical discharge that occurs in the mesosphere above strong thunderstorms. Sprites take the form of bright red and multi-hued flashes that can appear in the shape of jellyfish, halos, carrots, or columns. They have been described by some as “psychedelic” and no two are exactly alike. They often occur in clusters of two or more, and typically span the altitude range 30 to 60 miles, with what appear to be tendrils hanging below and branches reaching above.
It is important to note that I didn’t discover them but I capture them on my all-sky camera and special radio array and am part of a core group of world scientists who study them.
They have utmost importance in mesospheric ecological studies and global electrical field research. They are studied intensively at some Space Valley labs and institutions such as New Mexico Tech, Los Alamos, Sandia National Laboratories, and the Air Force Atmospheric Lab. I have many sprite specimens on my website. Check them out.
Can you give us a sneak peek into any upcoming projects or experiments that explore the synergy between art and science?
I am always working on the concept of radio astronomy antennas as sculpture. To me, my antennas are sculptural and I consider them hyper-extensions of my central nervous system. I find beauty in the action, deed and manifestation.
I am also exploring the concept of “artist as electroreceptor”. How can we “bioport” electromagnetic signals from space into the body for some sort of possible effect? It might be an esthetic effect, or medicinal, or neuro or metabolic, or something as yet undiscovered. The implications are endless.
With rapid technological advancements, how do you balance modern innovation with the traditional, more tactile or organic aspects of artistic expression?
There is still something to be said for pencil and paper, compass and ruler. I have thirteen years of daily sunspot drawings through a simple three-inch diameter optical telescope, the same type of telescope that Galileo used for many of his discoveries. An actual pencil harks backward and forward in time and feeds the soul.
What advice would you offer to young creatives or scientists who are interested in exploring interdisciplinary approaches?
Seek experience and knowledge. Study and experiment. I have a credo in my observatory: Explore. Examine. Discover. Report. Don’t neglect the reporting. Although it may be harsh to say, it is not art nor science until it is shared and communicated. And have fun!
Finally, tell us more about your position as an Artist in Residence at the Santa Fe Institute.
My work, in its totality, dovetails into the realm of complexity science and naturalism. I’m thankful for the opportunity to look, listen and learn there.
Later in 2025, I plan to present my recent work on Cosmodities: which are Cosmic Commodities: On Planet – Off Planet.
Thomas Ashcraft’s passion for the cosmos and his devotion to artistic expression epitomize the spirit of Space Valley—where innovation, creativity, and scientific discovery converge under the vast New Mexico sky. Keep an eye out for his Sky and Culture Pavilion, and look forward to seeing more of his collaborative work with local research institutions.
Stay tuned for more Spotlights on remarkable individuals who continue to push the boundaries of what’s possible in art and science. Visit us at SpaceValley.org for upcoming events and opportunities to engage with fellow explorers, researchers, and creatives.
