Created by artist Bathsheba Grossman, these pieces are a beautiful way to illustrate data from art, science and technology. Bathsheba Grossman is an internationally renowned artist, who uses laser beams to create unique works of art. Best viewed against a dark backdrop (as seen in the above pictures) or with an LED light base (not included) each glass paperweight weigh a hefty 1.5KG. Each piece is laser-etched, turning 3D data into fine-grained, highly accurate structures. Made with high-frequency lasers driven by hand-operated software, these blocks are highly detailed representations of what they depict.
The Milky Way Galaxy is a cosmic paperweight: an optically perfect glass block laser etched with a 3D model of the Milky Way.
Data for this sculpture comes from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center. We can't see all of our own galaxy – the core blocks our view of the other side – but this is a well-researched model of how we think it must be. The bright stars along the spiral arms, the delicate disk, and the strongly barred core are drawn here as they would look from intergalactic space.
The Star Map is a glass cube that's been laser etched with a 3D map of our nearby stars. Sol is in the centre, and the map covers 5 parsecs in all directions, which is as far as Altair. The map comes with a key describing each star and symbol.
