CONSTELLATION (or ‘From Here to Eternity’ – or ‘Latitude 65o’ or ‘Celestial Portals’) Proposal II - for a significant landmark light sculpture based on the structure of Nottingham CastleIntroductionThe stars have always had significance for mankind from a practical, scientific, mythical and religious perspective. They evoke awe and a sense of mystery, connecting us to the eternal and removing us from our immediate environment.The patterns of constellations were discovered and names invented for them. They are simply distinctive, easy-to-remember patterns of stars as seen from Earth and in scientific terms they provide a system that allows the easy location and identification of individual stars, they are used as visual reference points in navigation and seasonal calculations. Although the constellations have changed over the years, defined boundaries were laid down by the International Astronomical Union The effect of the universe on earth is experiential in the every day life of our planet and ever advancing technologies aid greater understanding of our galaxy, which only serve to illustrate even further the vast dimensions of the known universe. In an effort to connect with this phenomenon, current technological advancements and Nottingham Castle’s location and physical form will be utilised to create a highly visible temporary landmark over Nottingham’s skyline.Proposal‘Constellation’ aims to use the spatial dimensions of Nottingham Castle which will be plotted to develop a plan for an exterior, interactive light sculpture to be situated on the Castle roof. The mapping of the Castle coordinate nodes will be used to create an ‘Atlas Céleste’, a symbolic sky map. This sky map will then be treated as a template to create a constellation in the form of a temporary light sculpture above the Castle utilising its highly visible location to create Nottingham’s own, unique ‘constellation’, evolving the cultural significance of the constellation concepts to reinforce a significant sense of place/identity of the city.The development will also be evident as an elegant sculptural form during daylight, using aluminium supports to house lighting, with built-in tensile strength, for each ‘star’ within the constellation. This will serve in reasserting the Castle site as a cultural and educational focal point, promoting interest, enthusiasm and enquiry where substantial national resources will be accessible through centres of opportunity and excellence.Using state of the art technology, research conducted with the National Space Centre, Leicester and the Royal Observatory Greenwich, London, Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council, Consultant Engineers and Lighting Technologies. ‘Constellation’ will create a magnificent temporary landmark over Nottingham’s skyline.

 

Research notes

Patterns in the SkyIt has always been very seductive to think that the stars are positioned in such an order that a relationship between them might be established. By linking particular patterns or groups of stars many ancient civilizations used them for understanding the universe through the creation of mythology. The patterns of the constellations, then, were discovered with names invented. They are simply distinctive, easy-to-remember patterns of stars as seen from Earth and in scientific terms they provide a system that allows the easy location and identification of individual stars. Although the constellations have changed over the years defined boundaries were laid down by the International Astronomical Union (I.A.U.). During the Astronomical Congress of 1928, it was decided to recognize 88 constellations. A description of their agreed-upon boundaries was published at Cambridge, England, in 1930, under the title Atlas Céleste.Today, we know any relationship to be purely superficial since their positions are only relative to the position from which they are viewed from Earth. There are some exceptions however; for example most of the bright stars of the Big Dipper travel together forming an open cluster. Although the constellations have no scientific significance, astronomers have retained them as convenient visual reference points; it is much easier to speak of a star in Orion than to give its geometrical position in the sky. OriginsThe origins of the patterns is not know for certain though the ancient Chinese and Egyptians are known to have applied symbolic sky maps. The basic pattern followed today is that of the ancient Greeks and all of those given in Ptolemy's Algamest (dating from circa AD 150) are still in use. When Ptolemy conceived their patterns the stars were thought to be equi-distant from the Earth; this model was developed from Aristotle's conception of crystalline spheres on which the stars (and planets) rotated around a central Earth. Thus, the idea of a relationship between groups of stars would have been a realistic assumption.Early CulturesDependence on the sky became an essential part of many early cultures (and to agricultural cultures today). Around the world there are many examples of ancient civilisations independently constructing sites which demonstrated a precise knowledge of the motions of the heavens. For example, Stonehenge in England or the pyramids in Chichen Itza, Mexico both provide an accurate system for determining celestial events.Some historians argue that many of the myths associated with the constellations were invented specifically to help farmers construct an accurate understanding of the sky. From ancient times farmers knew that for most crops, you plant in the spring and harvest in the autumn. Therefore, by ensuring the planting took place at the correct time the risk of a failed harvest was kept to a minimum, particularly in regions where the differentiation between the seasons was slight. Since different constellations are visible at different times of the year, farmers were able to use them to tell what month it was. The importance, to these early civilizations, of knowing the time of year calendar cannot be underestimated. As a result, accurate calendar prediction was an essential skill and was a central aspect of astronomy up to at least the 16 th century.Views Around the WorldIt is convenient to divide the constellations into two groups. Those that never set below or rise above the horizon are called ‘circumpolar' constellations; the rest are divided into ‘seasonal' constellations which periodically come into view through the year. As the relative position of the Sun alters as Earth revolves around the Sun, so different constellations become visible in different parts of the night sky. For example, Scorpius is only visible in the northern hemisphere's evening sky during the summer. Which constellations are circumpolar and which are seasonal depends on your latitude and will change from place to place around the world. From the Earth's extremities the visible sky is fixed. At the Poles all constellations are circumpolar; at the Equator all are seasonal. From the UK, then, most of the Southern Constellations, a large group of 32 constellations, are always invisible and can only be viewed by traveling south of the equator. Many of them named by European scientists, however, when exploring the southern hemisphere for the first time.Naming the SkiesMost of the brighter stars in the sky have common names that are of historical and mythological significance. For example, the bright red star in the shoulder region of the constellation Orion is called Betelgeuse, which comes from Arabic and roughly translated means 'the armpit of the mighty one'; the brightest star in the constellation Cygnus (the Swan) is situated near the rear portion of the beast and is called Deneb, also Arabic in origin meaning ‘the tail of the hen'.Common names are fine for a few bright stars, but to name all the stars that we see a more systematic system was necessary. One such method is the Bayer system, after the German astronomer Johann Bayer, which names the brighter stars by assigning a constellation (using the Latin possessive of the name) and a Greek letter (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon...) in an approximate order of decreasing brightness for stars in the constellation. The adjacent figure illustrates for Orion. Betelgeuse is also called Alpha-Orionis and Rigel is called Beta Orionis in the Bayer system.Produced by the Astronomy Information Service of the Royal Observatory GreenwichRob Warren.