Faculty of Arts & Science

Digital Futures

Jerez Bain

Orrery-tically Speaking (Thesis)

An orrery is a mechanical model of the solar system that shows the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons according to the heliocentric (sun-centered) model. Having the ability to tune it to a specific date, I hope to provide a celestial perspective of what that day looks like, and augment our understanding of time.

“I am interested in exploring how time can be presented in an unfamiliar display that can become an association of a memory or an anticipated event in the future. I am building an orrery (model solar system) that relies on data gathered though astrometry to allow viewers to see what the solar system looked like on a given day. ”