Equatorium
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An equatorium is an astronomical calculating instrument. It can be used for finding the positions of the Moon, Sun, and planets without arithmetic operations, using a geometrical model to represent th
Equatorium from Johannes Schöner
A 1600 equatorium, possibly from France
Astrolabe
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An astrolabe is an astronomical instrument dating to ancient times. It serves as a star chart and physical model of the visible half-dome of the sky. Its various functions also make it an elaborate in
Equatorium
…this instrument is still disputed to this day, as the only Albion from the past is both unnamed and unmarked. The roots of the equatorium lie in the astrolabe. The history of the astrolabe dates back to roughly 220 BC in the works of Hipparchus. The difference between the two instruments is that the astrolabe…
North African, 9th century ce, planispheric astrolabe. Khalili Collection.
A modern astrolabe made in 2013, in Tabriz, Iran.
16th-century woodcut of the measurement of a building's height with an astrolabe
A modern reconstruction of the spherical astrolabe of Ptolemy, 2nd C.E., in Kotsanas Museum of Ancient Greek Technology, Athens.