3D ‘Xmas card’ from space
created with three.js
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A few years ago I discovered this Christmas experiments website — an advent WebGL calendar featuring various digital artists. It looks like the project has been abandoned and the last version is from 2018. I also managed to access the archive by going to https://christmasexperiments.com/2017/01 but the demos don’t seem to work.
Anyway, my mind was blown away when I checked the examples and I felt inspired. But learning three.js, canvas or WebGL also felt like a daunting task and my aspirations faded away as quickly as they emerged. I am happy to say that writing articles on a weekly basis got me some momentum [knocking on wood] and I’ve got an idea for a project.
I was thinking first about creating something Christmassy, involving snow, Xmas trees etc. but eventually I changed my mind so the title is a bit misleading. My focus shifted when I realised that Jupiter and Saturn are closing in on their great conjunction tomorrow, December 21, 2020. The last time this happened was 400 years ago. As npr.org writes:
Seen at the right hour, whether by telescope or the naked eye, the gas giants will be separated by roughly a fifth of the diameter of the typical full moon. At this proximity, the planets will appear to touch or even form one large, brilliant star in the sky.
This is a big, exciting event and I decided to visualize it using web technologies. I found many three.js examples online that helped me to form and picture the idea (for example this solar system).
I am not going to write how I did it as I am happy I managed to finish the demo last week and there was simply no time left for this. Let me know if you would like to grasp some 3D in Javascript though and I’ll be happy to write a tutorial next time.
Whether you are interested in astrology or not, Jupiter and Saturn are the biggest planets in the Solar system and by getting so close together they’re believed to have influence on a grander scale. Impacting the society as a whole. Holiday starts in a few days so I wish you a Merry Christmas and may you feel a positive change in your life by this great conjunction. And now please enjoy the experiment and click the link below to open it.
