A quick doodle, perhaps thought provoking.

circle.py

import sys
import os
#import and init pygame
import pygame
import numpy
from time import sleep
pygame.init() 
scale = 3

def getPos(angle,X,Y,o,i):
	a = angle
	b = int(float(angle) / numpy.pi)
	c = float(angle) % numpy.pi
	m = float(c/numpy.pi) if (b%2 == 0) else float((numpy.pi - c)/numpy.pi)
	y = (i+(o-i)*m)*numpy.sin(a)
	x = (i+(o-i)*m)*numpy.cos(a)
	#x = ((o+i)/2)*numpy.sin(a)
	#y = ((o+i)/2)*numpy.cos(a)-(o-((i+o)/2))
	return((int(x+X),int(y+Y)))

def dist(p1,p2):
	l=0.
	if len(p1)!=len(p2):
		print'you done doing sumtin silly'
	else:
		for k in range(0,len(p1)):
			l+=(p1[k]-p2[k])**2.
		l = l ** 0.5 
	return(l)

class spaceShip():
	global scale
	def __init__(self,n,window):
		self.x = 130*scale
		self.y = 75*scale
		self.t = 0
		self.massts = []
		self.w = window
		self.i = 10.*scale
		self.o = 100.*scale
		for k in range(0,n):
			self.massts.append(masst(k,n, self))
	def update(self):
		self.w.fill((0,0,0))
		for k in self.massts:
			k.update()
			
		pygame.draw.circle(self.w, (0,0,0), (self.x,self.y), 3*scale, 1)
		self.t+=1
		pygame.display.flip()
		sleep(0.01)
		
		 
class masst():
	global scale
	def __init__(self,position, of,ship):
		self.s=ship
		self.angle = (float(position)/float(of))*2.0*numpy.pi+3.0*numpy.pi
		self.p = getPos(self.angle+(float(self.s.t)/360.)*2.*numpy.pi,self.s.x,self.s.y,self.s.o,self.s.i)
		self.p2 = getPos((self.angle+((float(-1.*self.s.t)/360.)%360)*2.*numpy.pi),self.s.x,self.s.y,self.s.o,self.s.i)

	def update(self):
		self.p = getPos(self.angle+(float(self.s.t)/360.)*2.*numpy.pi,self.s.x,self.s.y,self.s.o,self.s.i)
		self.p2 = getPos((self.angle+((float(-1.*self.s.t)/360.)%360)*2.*numpy.pi),self.s.x,self.s.y,self.s.o,self.s.i)
		pygame.draw.circle(self.s.w, (200,200,200), self.p , 2*scale, 1)
		pygame.draw.circle(self.s.w, (200,200,200), self.p2 , 2*scale, 1)
		r =int((((((self.p[0]-self.s.x)**2+(self.p[1]-self.s.y)**2)**0.5)-(self.s.i))/(self.s.o-self.s.i))*250)
		r2 =int((((((self.p2[0]-self.s.x)**2+(self.p2[1]-self.s.y)**2)**0.5)-(self.s.i))/(self.s.o-self.s.i))*250)
		pygame.draw.line(self.s.w,(r,0,255-r),(self.s.x,self.s.y),self.p)
		pygame.draw.line(self.s.w,(r2,0,255-r2),(self.s.x,self.s.y),self.p2)
		#pygame.draw.line(self.s.w,(0,0,0),self.p,self.p2)
		dtemp = None		
		mtemp = None
		for k in self.s.massts:
			if k !=  self:
				if (( dtemp is None )or( dist(self.p,k.p) < dtemp )):
					dtemp = dist(self.p,k.p)
					ptemp=k.p
				if((dtemp is None )or( dist(self.p,k.p2) < dtemp )):
					dtemp = dist(self.p,k.p2)
					ptemp=k.p2
				if (( dtemp is None )or( dist(self.p,k.p) > mtemp )):
					mtemp = dist(self.p,k.p)
					mptemp=k.p
				if((dtemp is None )or( dist(self.p,k.p2) > mtemp )):
					mtemp = dist(self.p,k.p2)
					mptemp=k.p2
		
		if(dtemp is None or dist(self.p,self.p2) < dtemp):
				dtemp = dist(self.p,self.p2)
				ptemp=self.p2
		r3 = int(dtemp/self.s.o * 255)
		
		pygame.draw.line(self.s.w,(r3,0,255-r3),self.p,ptemp)
		pygame.draw.line(self.s.w,(255-r3,255-r3,255-r3),self.p,mptemp)
		

w = 180*scale
h = 150*scale

window = pygame.display.set_mode((w, h))
arms = 45
s = spaceShip(arms,window)
k = True
from PIL import Image, ImageSequence
from images2gif import writeGif
if not os.path.exists('frames'): 
	os.makedirs('frames')
os.chdir('frames')
n = 360 / arms
if 360 % arms == 0 :
	print 'Warning : Async gif'
k = 0
while(k<n):
	s.update()
	pygame.image.save(window,"frame"+str(k)+".png")
	k+=1

frames = [Image.open("frame"+str(f)+".png") for f in range(0,n,1) if os.path.isfile("frame"+str(f)+".png")]
writeGif(os.path.basename('op.gif'), frames, duration=0.05, dither=0)
exit()


## Todo --- plot gravitational potential and kenetic energy