Luke Jerram: Helios

Helios is a seven-metre-scale model of the Sun created by British artist Luke Jerram, combining art, light and sound into a captivating artistic experience.

Measuring seven metres in diameter, the artwork features 72dpi detailed imagery* of the Sun’s surface. At an approximate scale of 1:200 million, each centimetre of the internally lit spherical sculpture represents 2000km of the Sun’s surface. 
 

The installation is a fusion of solar imagery, sunlight and a specially created sound composition by Duncan Speakman and Sarah Anderson. 

Imagery for the artwork has been compiled using 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). 

Helios follows on from Jerram’s previous astronomical artworks, Museum of the Moon, Gaia, and Mars. In Helsinki, Helios forms part of the Helsinki Cathedral Parish’s Let There Be Light! themed month, which explores mental wellbeing and mental health.

Cathedral

1.10.-1.11.2026

The latest opening hours are available on Helsinki Cathedral’s website

Admission fee 8€, under 18 yrs free entry