Moon sculpture illuminates western cathedral
An exhibition featuring a giant illuminated sculpture of the Moon has gone on display in a Manx cathedral for the first time.
The Museum of the Moon artwork by Luke Jerram, which is 20ft (6m) in diameter, has been installed at the recently refurbished Cathedral Isle of Man in Peel.
Supported by the Isle of Man Arts Council, the artwork will be on show until 2 March.
The installation, which uses detailed NASA imagery, has also been accompanied by a soundtrack composed by award-winning composer Dan Jones.
It follows a similar exhibition of another of Jerram's works, Gaia, at St Thomas' Church in Douglas last year, which was visited by 13,000 people.
The Museum of the Moon exhibition has toured the world and has been displayed in woods and above swimming pools as well as at other Cathedrals.
At an approximate scale of 1:600,000, each centimetre of the artwork represents 3.7 miles (6km) of the actual moon's surface.
A range of "lunar-inspired events for all" have been planned to coincide with the exhibition at the cathedral, including choral performances and Pilates under the artwork.
Rosemary Clarke, who is a lay preacher at Cathedral Isle of Man, said early visitors had been "wowed" by the display after walking into the space, and had spent time learning about the Moon and its surface.
She said she had also enjoyed speaking to children on school trips about potential careers in the space industry , but "for most of us this will be the closest we'll ever get to the Moon".
Ms Clarke said she hoped it would encourage new visitors to the cathedral and those who do attended would "take away a sense of awe and thinking of things that are beyond our normal life".
It had also been a "pleasure" to see the potential "for all kinds of events" to be held in the building, which "is now for everybody" following recent extensive refurbishment works, she added.
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