Light and its orbits – an Artemide project

The Artemide company has again adhered to the policy it follows. Every year they present 10-15 prototypes of illuminants during the specialized presentations and fairs. The next year some of them go into production and others remain “prototypes”. Just several months ago we saw an odd-looking, almost cosmic illuminant – a new Artemide prototype.

It’s name Copernico sheds some light on the concept of its creation, and the influence of the famous helio-centric theory of the scientist can be seen here. Let’s hope that we’ll see the light orbit Copernico among the lamps Artemide will produce. It’s a pity that Copernicus won’t have that opportunity, because it’s certain that the project would have intrigued him.

The Copernico prototype is designed from nine concentric circles. It’s made of anodized aluminum and lighted with 384 LED. The circles move in two different directions which allows shifting the shape of the lamp. Its shape is inspired by the heliocentric theory, published in Copernicus’ book „De revolutionibus orbium coelestium” („About the rotations of the celestial spheres”). Completely deservedly the lamp is named after the famous discoverer.

Heliocentrism is a theory about the structure of the Universe, according to which the Sun is in its center, and the Earth and the other planets revolve around it. The name comes from the Greek words for Sun (Helios) and center (Centron). The modern understanding of heliocentrism  starts from the theory of Nicolaus Copernicus who presented its first version in his book „About the rotations of the celestial spheres”.