Patent ID: 7686491

Claim:
A modular system for assembling an actively lighted star field display on a display substratum comprising: a plurality of panels each including a front face and a back face, each panel for displaying a respective subarea of the star field, the panels being back face attachable onto the display substratum in edgewise juxtaposed relationship according to the star field; each panel defining a set of apertures extending through the panel, the apertures being distributed over said each panel according to said each panel's respective subarea; on a back face of each panel a set of light pipes respectively corresponding to the set of apertures, each light pipe including an input and an output, the output of said each light pipe being disposed at least partially in its corresponding aperture; a power source for each panel; and wherein the plurality of panels includes a first set of panels whose respective subareas each include one or more twinkling stars, each first set panel further comprising a modulated light source connected to the power source for inputting light into light pipe or pipes corresponding to said one or more twinkling stars; and wherein the plurality of panels includes a second set of panels having an originating panel and a cascaded panel whose respective subareas each include a shooting star or a segment of a shooting star, each second set panel further comprising a sequential light source connected to the power source for sequentially inputting light into light pipes corresponding to said shooting star or shooting star segment.