NOVEMBER 6 — More than a century after Vincent van Gogh painted one of the world’s most celebrated masterpieces, scientific research is offering a fascinating new perspective on the night sky that may have inspired it. For generations, Vincent van Gogh’s The Starry Night has captivated audiences with its swirling skies, luminous stars and extraordinary sense of movement.
But what if the celestial arrangement in this iconic painting was inspired by an actual morning sky?
A study published in Scientific Reports, part of the Nature Portfolio, explores precisely this possibility. Using astronomical simulations, historical records and mathematical analysis, researchers reconstructed the sky over Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France, where Van Gogh was staying in 1889.
