Antigravity ART: Astronaut creates psychedelic images on ISS using timelapse photography and a spinning top



Koichi Wakata used a slow shutter speed on his camera to capture the spinning top’s spiralling movement as it change colour



The light-up device floated through the International Space Station's micro-gravity environment

A Japanese astronaut has created colourful cosmic art by ‘painting’ with light.



What is more impressive is that artwork was made aboard the International Space Station (ISS) where objects and humans are weightless.



Koichi Wakata made his light ‘painting’ pictures by taking photos of a light-up spinning top whirling through the space station.

A Japanese astronaut has created colourful cosmic art (pictured) by 'painting' with light aboard the International Space Station

He used a slow shutter speed to capture the top’s spiralling movement as it changed colour and floated through space.



The photographs, named the Auroral Oval Spiral Top, were photographed in Kibo, the Japanese Science Module of the Space Station.



Koichi Wakata made his light 'painting' pictures by taking photos of a light-up spinning top whirling through the space station

The Japanese astronaut used a slow shutter speed to capture the top's spiralling movement (pictured) as it changed colour

The spinning top has illuminating arms fitted with LED linear light sources, which made the aurora-like light traces.



In microgravity, the centre of gravity of the top continuously moved while it was spinning to create the incredible light patterns.



The photographs (pictured) are named the Auroral Oval Spiral Top because of the 'trails' of light suspended in the air, which bear some resemblance to the Northern Lights

The spinning top (pictured) has illuminating arms fitted with LED linear light sources, which make aurora-like light traces

‘The floating art method is a method created in space,’ said Principal Investigator in the Spiral Top Art Project, Professor Takuro Osaka.



‘There are many spirals in your body, for instance, your fingerprint spirals, on your head there is a hair whorl, DNA is also a spiral, even though it is difficult to see.



The spinning top was photographed in Kibo, the Japanese Science Module of the Space Station (pictured)

In microgravity, the centre of gravity of the top continuously moves while it is spinning, creating the incredible light patterns (pictured)

‘Spirals are deeply connected to life and his experiment attempted to paint spirals with floating light.



‘When a figure with many LEDs attached is spun like a spinning top, the axis becomes inverted and a beautiful phenomenon unique to space is revealed.



He added: ‘During this experiment Kibo became a beautiful canvas with an image of bright lights.’

The intriguing movement of the spinning top (pictured) was captured using a camera with a slow shutter speed. Here, it floats around inside the ISS

Astronaut Koichi Wakata (pictured) created the artwork in his spare time on the ISS

THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION - A MICROGRAVITY ENVIRONMENT

The ISS was launched in 1998 and is in low Earth orbit. Since the arrival of Expedition 1 November 2000, the ISS has been continuously occupied for 13 years and 93 days, the longest continuous human presence in space. The station serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which crew members conduct experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology and other fields.

Microgravity is the condition in which people or objects appear to be weightless.

The effects of microgravity can be seen when astronauts and objects, such as the spinning top, float in space.

Microgravity refers to the condition where gravity seems to be very small. In microgravity, astronauts can float in their spacecraft - or outside, on a spacewalk.

Heavy objects move around easily, so astronauts can move equipment weighing hundreds of pounds with their fingertips.



