Zodiac

We always see stars from a single perspective: we watch them far away from earth. For thousands of years, we only see them as dots on the inner surface of the celestial sphere. This single perspective has prevailed our culture for so long that even today, the horoscope is still widely trusted. However, in reality, these stars sit in three-dimensional space, even stars in the same constellation are widely separated from each other.

This project is a three-dimensional map of the zodiac that provides a different perspective of seeing the stars – a perspective from outside the earth. Each star is placed on the map with their coordinates, in relation to earth and its equatorial plane.

This map is three dimensional and interactive. All the star coordinate are from real data. Viewers can walk through the space and see how these ancient patterns really are from the perspective of an outsider. Coordinate data provided by HYG database, constellation lines data provided by Dan Bruton. See more at http://www.mian-wei.com/#/zodiac/

Virgo in 3D M ore

Process:

The map is developed by processing multiple databases, including Yale Bright Star Catalog and HYG database. Each constellation is mapped in Processing with iGeo, and connected in Rhino3D.

2014