Celestial Objects & Aeriform Masses
Animation Celestial Objects and Aeriform Masses is a generative animation, drawing from data about human-made space debris from a RSOnar nanosatellite. It is part of Space Situational Awareness and Us, a collaboration with Joel Ong, Regina Lee, and a team of cross disciplinary researchers from York University’s Nanosatellite Lab. Created in TouchDesigner, it evolves through periodic rhythms: depicting atmospheric swirls and evolving colours in the form of a lunar scape.
"Celestial Objects and Aeriform Masses" is a time-based animation, characterised by looping particle waves informed by an array of geospatial and atmospheric measurements, chiefly latitude, longitude, altitude, and pressure. These data points were collected during the experimental voyage of a Resident Space Object Near-Atmospheric Edge Reconnaissance (RSOnar) nanosatellite. This CubeSat was a principal component of the payload aboard the Canadian Space Agency's stratospheric balloon Gondola, launched from Timmins in August 2023.
"Celestial Objects and Aeriform Masses" was commissioned by Professor Joel Ong for exhibition The Life Cycle of Celestial Objects Pt. 2 as part of a larger NFRF-E funded research project Space Situational Awareness and Us. This work has received support from Sensorium: Centre for Digital Arts and Technology, the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design, CRSH-SSHRC, the Ontario Arts Council, and the Canada Council for the Arts.
