Mariner's astrolabe
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The mariner's astrolabe, also called sea astrolabe, was an inclinometer used to determine the latitude of a ship at sea by measuring the sun's noon altitude or the meridian altitude of a star of known
Three Mariner's Astrolabes in the Museum of the Forte da Ponta da Bandeira; Lagos, Portugal
Mariner's astrolabe from circa 1600.
Mariner's astrolabe made in 1645 by Nicolao Ruffo at The Mariners' Museum
Sodré astrolabe, the oldest mariner's astrolabe in National Museum of Oman, Muscat
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
Mariner's astrolabe
…determine the latitude of a ship at sea by measuring the sun's noon altitude (declination) or the meridian altitude of a star of known declination. Not an astrolabe proper, the mariner's astrolabe was rather a graduated circle with an alidade used to measure vertical angles. They were designed to allow for their…
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.