Now here is a great way to relax after a busy day; a music box made using the stars to determine what musical note is played.  The software was created by Jim Bumgardner, and he calls it The Wheel of Stars.

Jim Bumgardner, Wheel of Stars

What Mr. Bumbardner did was map the position of the brightest stars from the data provided by ESA’s satellite Hipparcos, and set them to slowly revolve around Polaris… just as we’d see them from the Earth.  It takes almost 24 hours to complete a full rotation.  As the stars cross 0′ and 180′ (marked by a straight line), a musical note or chime is sounded based on each individual star.  BV measurement determines pitch, magnitude determines volume, and the position on the screen is what the stereo panning is based on.

As each star passes the center line, it flashes – or sparkles, if you will.

The sound is very soothing, and it’s possible to pick out familiar stars, constellations, and asterisms.

Here is Jim’s Wheel of Stars website. It’s lovely, and well worth giving it a listen.