Celestial Mechanics

Created By D. Scott Hessels and Gabriel Dunne

Celestial Mechanics is a planetarium-based artwork installation that visualizes the statistics, data, and protocols of manmade aerial technologies -- a graphic display of the paths and functions of the machines hovering, flying, and drifting above our planet. The sky is filled with aircraft that transport people from place to place, perform utilitarian duties, assist in communications, enact military missions, or wander above us as debris. Celestial Mechanics combines science, statistical display, and contemporary art by presenting these mechanical patterns and behaviors as a dynamic visual experience. The artwork is intended to be viewed in a planetarium dome, and as time permits the authors, it is updated.

View additional media and official project documentation at http://cmlab.com.

As you watch these clips, note that these animations are flattened Dome Originals. If you were to view the piece in a Planetarium or a Dome projector, the visual would wrap around your head enabling you to look up, back, left and right.