Silent disco fun under sun sculpture in Winchester Cathedral

Helios, the dramatic illuminated art piece by Bristol-based artist Luke Jerram, is on display in the nave of Winchester Cathedral until March 1.

A crowd of around 500 people gathered beneath its golden glow for a silent disco on Saturday, February 21.

Canon Roland Riem, interim dean of Winchester Cathedral, said: “I think it’s really important to have big things in a big nave and it has a great impact and it reminds us that the sun is at the centre of our life.

“Without the sun we wouldn’t exist so it’s really appropriate in the church to have something that talks about the sustainability of creation and a life at the heart of creation.”

The sculpture, which measures seven metres in diameter, forms part of a programme of events to celebrate the mystery of creation and the presence of God in the cosmos.

Silent disco at Winchester Cathedral (Image: Winchester Cathedral)

Helios uses detailed 72dpi imagery of the sun’s surface, with every centimetre representing 2,000km at a scale of 1:200 million.

The imagery was compiled using approximately 400,000 photographs of the Sun provided by Astrophotographer Dr Stuart Green (taken between May 2018 to June 2024) and NASA observations of the Sun, with guidance from solar scientist, Professor Lucie Green of University College London (UCL).

The sculpture also features the source of the solar flares which caused the Northern lights to be visible from the UK in May 2024.