Constellation Cradle

Constellation Cradle is a computational model created by User:RainbowDash, defined on a 2-dimensional graph, where each star is represented as a point. The graph is divided into districts called constellations. A constellation is the minimal bounding box that contains a connected group of stars. When there are two distinct groups of stars, each group has its own bounding box, and these bounding boxes occupy equal areas. This model can be extended to handle an infinite number of stars.

Some stars move along an ecliptic path, while others remain stationary. Moving stars wrap around the graph when they reach its edges, and over time, they will visit every point on the graph. When a moving star enters the "house" of a constellation, it acts as a selection head. Once a constellation is selected, it records the current date and compares it to a list of dates. When the moving star encounters a date that matches, a rewriting rule is applied to that constellation.

If a rewriting rule splits a constellation or connects it to another, the bounding boxes are recalculated. This process repeats indefinitely, continuing until all moving stars eventually die out.

The list of dates is based on a modulus of the current time rather than a fixed list of dates for example, a rule might trigger every 5 years or every 3 seconds. Each moving star has a specific lifespan and encodes a specific graph rewriting rule.

If two stars both match up at the same time within a constellation, it goes from bottom left most star to top right most star in terms of applying the rewrite rules.

Name Origin

The name is from a song titled "Constellation Cradle" written by musician Vylet Pony in 2023.