Gaia (Jerram)

Gaia is a 2018 inflatable installation artwork by Luke Jerram currently in the library of Trinity Collage.

The sculpture is based on a helium balloon made by Cameron Balloons, covered with 50 panels of 120dpi printed imagery of the Earth's surface from multiple satellite images stitched together, at a scale of about 1:1,800,000, or 1 centimetre (0.39 in) to 18 kilometres (11 mi).

The sphere is lit internally when installed in a dark place, to create a glowing floating orb.

Gaia was first shown the Bluedot Festival at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire in 2018.

The work has been compared to The Blue Marble, the 1972 photograph of the Earth by either Ron Evans or Harrison Schmitt, astronauts from Apollo 17.