Aries
Ram
Tension
Aries is located near the Pleiades star cluster. The cloud-like material spreading across the image is stardust (cosmic dust), and the blue star visible on the right side of the photograph is Epsilon Arietis. Gamma Arietis is a double star that was discovered by an Englishman in 1664, possibly the first such discovery.
Sisask’s constellation chart does not show galaxies by their catalogue numbers, but there is an unbarred spiral galaxy known as Arp 78, which is also catalogued as NGC 772. It lies 130 million light-years away, and its diameter is said to be more than twice that of our Milky Way.
This image, released on August 5, 2019, was captured by the Hubble Space Telescope in the direction of Aries. The two galaxies are expected to be drawn even closer together by gravity and eventually merge into a single giant galaxy, which has already been given the name “Milkomeda.” Some believe that our own Milky Way Galaxy may also have been formed through galactic collisions, and it is said that, some four billion years from now, the Milky Way will collide with our neighboring Andromeda Galaxy.
Sisask would surely have found such new information fascinating. Our image of the constellations may change over time, but Sisask’s image of Aries—“Tension”—seems remarkably fitting, almost as if it were a premonition. The bluish-white light visible in all three images also seems to convey a subtle sense of tension.
According to Hōei Nojiri, Aries is a very ancient constellation. In ancient times, it was regarded as the center of the heavens, and when the Sun entered Aries, one of the constellations of the zodiac, festivals were held in Egypt. People are said to have decorated rams’ heads with flowers and marched in processions.
The piece for Aries begins with a slightly tense triad whose three notes are widely spaced. Could these three notes perhaps represent Alpha, Beta, and Gamma Arietis, the three stars that shine in the Ram’s head? The melody, which begins in the left hand, gives the impression of listening intently, as if alert to the possibility of something approaching from the surroundings. From this image, the music expands in every direction—to the earth, to the history of the past, and to the future of the stars—until, before we know it, we find ourselves in the vastness of outer space. It is an astonishing development. In the closing section, could the triads appearing together in both hands perhaps be an allusion to a double star?
After Aries comes Ophiuchus, whose image is “Ruin.” Aries flows seamlessly into Ophiuchus through the note C-sharp (cis). Now, what will happen next?
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