Description

This scientifically accurate crystal sculpture would make an ideal gift for astronomers.

Using a scientifically accurate model of Saturn, this sculpture provides a faithful three-dimensional reproduction of this most spectacular of planets, revealing the oblate shape of the planet, the intriguing cloud patterns visible in its atmosphere, the beautiful ring system, and even some of the subtler phenomena such as the ring-shepherding moons, all at a miniaturized scale of one to five billion (1 : 5 x 10⁹).

The sculpture is engraved in a 6cm cube block of optical-quality K9 crystal glass. The engraving is performed using a high repetition rate, diode pumped, nanosecond YAG laser. This system focuses intense laser light at points inside the block, thereby generating minute (50 micro-metre) marks in the glass, which show up as tiny “frosted” marks. At the scale of the sculpture, these marks have a size of approximately 250km, setting the ultimate resolution of the reproduction.

The sculpture is available exclusively from Crystal Nebulae.

For more information please visit the following pages:

The Science

The Model