Planets do not emit light themselves, but they reflect the light from the Sun. This concept has formed the inspiration for Cercle Solarie, an interactive lamp that illustrates central aspects of the solar system.

The name Cercle Solarie comes from the Old Norse 'solarhringr,' meaning sun ring, which was used to denote the 24 hours cycle of the day. The rotation of the planets around their own axes causes the shift between night and day, so the length of a day is determined by the speed of the planet's rotation on its axis.

Cercle Solarie has different stages representing the eight planets in our solar system. When the ring is turned, the lamp transitions through the stages, visualizing the respective planet's color and rotation speed. The whished temperature of the light is thereby controlled accordingly based on the lamp's different stages. As the planet rotates, it reflects the light into the surrounding space.