A group of local experimental artists, inspired by images of the cosmos, have responded through a series of artworks now on show at CSIRO Discovery Centre.

From solar flares to cosmic objects and hints of indigenous interpretations of the night sky, the members of the Artists' Society of Canberra Abstract and Experimental Group have used images produced by CSIRO staff and telescopes to capture the cosmos in their own ways.

Artist Jacquie Rogers, who has several works in the show, said the process of putting the exhibition together had been one of learning as much as creating.

The group has exhibited a science-related show at the Discovery Centre every year for the past four years, but this one has been more aligned with the work that CSIRO is doing.

"[Curator] Helen Sim has been communicating with each of us, and we've been able to get ideas from various sources and then send her photographs of what we've been doing, and she's put the various members in touch with scientists who might be interested in what we're doing to give us comments and feedback," she said.

"It's certainly been stimulating because it's developed in all of us more of an awareness of what's happening in astronomy."

One artist, for example, has focused her work on the Hubble Telescope, while another has used images from NASA, and several works involve images from telescopes around Australia.

The resulting works, while all paintings, vary in size and medium, and all are for sale.

"Mine are all acrylic, apart from a portrait of Isaac Newton," Rogers said.

"We went to a lecture at CSIRO called Black Holes Behaving Badly, and [the lecturer] started off talking about Galileo and Isaac Newton. I thought it would be nice to have a little bit of grounding before the exhibition."

She said abstract art lent itself perfectly to the vast and mysterious subject matter.

Sim, who is a communications adviser in astronomy and space science, said CSIRO had long been interested in the links between art and science.

"CSIRO has had a number of artist-in-residence programs over the years, so we're very interested in the connections between art and science, and artists' response to the practice of science and scientific information - it's something we've done a bit of in many different ways," she said.

And given the range of works in the exhibition, she said it was clear that the night skies, and visions produced by telescopes, were constant sources of fascination for artists.

■ Capturing the Cosmos is on at CSIRO Discovery Centre, Clunies Ross Street, Acton, until March 28.