Jim Bumgardner has created an interesting Web site, Wheel Of Stars, that's part clock, part ambient music box.

The site translates the motion of stars in the sky "around" the North Star into sound, as the bumps on a music box trigger sounds as they move.

Bumgardner explains:

Like the night sky, this is a sidereal time clock -- it takes nearly 24 hours for the stars to fully rotate. You'll notice some familiar constellations, such as the Big Dipper in there. As the stars cross zero and 180 degrees, indicated by the center line, the clock plays an individual note, or chime for each star. The pitch of the chime is based on the star's BV measurement (which roughly corresponds to color or temperature). The volume is based on the star's magnitude, or apparent brightness, and the stereo panning is based on the position on the screen (use headphones to hear it better).

You can preview a section of the audio from Baumgardner's Wheel Of Stars below. The site itself, though, generates audio continuously.

Links:

• Audio Preview (MP3)
• Wheel Of Stars

James Lewin
Twitter @podcasting_news

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