MOON lamp uses NASA-sourced data to replicate lunar phases in your living room
On average we spend almost 90 percent of our time inside, so it comes as no surprise that there are several home-decor products on the market that attempt to mimic different systems in nature to help break up the monotony. The newest addition to this collection is MOON, a small model of the moon that actually uses data sourced from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to position the unit. The MOON model was created by designer Oscar Lhermitte in collaboration with London-based design studio Kudu.
Using data sourced directly from NASA, the size and lighting of MOON adjusts to match, in exact 3D to a 1/20 million scale detail, the actual nighttime pie in the sky. The model also mimics the moons topography including craters, elevation and ridges.
To account for the sun, the MOON unit includes a ring of LED lights that revolve around the central globe. The lights cast a calculated shadow on the “moon” in order to illuminate the correct side of the sphere, thus recreating the lunar phases as we see them from Earth.
MOON has three different modes of operation for the user to choose from, each programed for a different lunar experience. The first is “Manual Mode” where you can adjust the “sun” to set the lunar phase that suits you best; The second is “Demo Mode” where you can watch the entire synodic month in a quick 30 seconds; And finally, “Live Mode” the setting that allows you to witness the moon’s lunar phase is real-time. In “Live Mode” you can see each lunar phase up close and personal. To get the full show, however, you will need about 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 2.80 seconds.
See more work from Oscar Lhermitte here.
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