Star light, star bright

Citizen AV3006-09E (Retail $1200).
Can't my star disk do this too?

The Great What if ...

As I perused through some of my favorite topics and how I might keep your attention for my limited space I jumped across at least ten topics before I was struck with that sense of 'we really have it good' in comparing today's amenities with those past. Take your wristwatch for example, how cool it would have been to show an ancient Egyptian the glow-in-the-dark button that tells you exactly what time it is. We would have glow in the dark Egyptian obelisks today! What a neat thing that they recorded numbers and data in places so that they could predict the time. Now, allow me to be your sales representative as we head off into the showroom floor and view some spectacular devices.

Stars are a great way of measuring time as they mimic the actual rotation of the Earth.

Nocturnals: Simple yet refined.

On the Ceiling in blue is a chart divided into the
 36 columns and 10 cycles with the leading star marking each cell.

Well since we didn't have watches as part of the standard showroom merchandise back in the Twelth dynasty (1150 B.C. or so), may I instead interest you in a unique relic, one worthy of the Pharaoh himself. Star Calendars frequent the best of Egyptian tombs and portray the 360 day calendar divided into 'decans' or 10 day cycles. This calendar uses the phases of common stars to tell you exactly what time visiting hours end. (Retail: one very patient exacting servant on no sleep for a year).

Other models for unique tastes

Prague Town Hall Astronomical Clock - Built 1410.
Notice where the numbers coincide with the geophysical
location of Prague's latitute (about 50 deg North).

If this seems a bit too much, there were also other fine artisans who charted the stars and based the nighttime hours on their accuracy. Even before Kepler made his wonderfully encompassing laws of planetary motion, star charts were commonly used well into the fifteenth century from Romans, Sea-Farers of all nations, etc. Pictured is the oldest grand astronomical clock in Prague, built in 1410 it is the oldest still working true clock like we see today. (Don't tell my boss, but you can build one yourself here).

The Antikythera Mechanism: 1500 years ahead of its time...

Okay, lets say the last clock may be a bit out of your price range and you want it to be portable. Although most of the nocturnals and star charts were portable, I've got something to knock your socks off. It's called the Antikythera Mechanism and until 1900 A.D. we didn't even know it existed! Built back around 100 B.C. this is now thought to be the first analog computer. Built out of many (upwards of fifty) gears, you rotate a lever attached corresponding to the date, and this nifty device will give you the position of the Sun, Moon, and other relevant classical planets. It also has the ability to predict future solar eclipses. What a powerful tool! The mechanism's function was unknown until 2006 AD when x-ray and deciphering revealed the purpose of this heralded invention. Pictured on the right is a modern day reproduction (the showroom-model took damage in the shipwreck of Antikythera 2000 years ago. It will be 1500 years before similar schemes are designed by crafty designers like Galileo. For more information this is an insightful video on the 2008 article published in Nature about the artifact. For those who like 3D models (like myself) this is a great way of showing just how complicated it really was.

For the Road

I see that we are running low on time and so may I leave you with a few other very interesting models you might find interesting. Stars, celestial objects thousands and hundreds of thousands of light years away are incredibly insightful celestial orbs with which we can watch time pass. They may be billions of years old, but don't expect them to be going out of style anytime soon!

Astrolabe Example

• Ancient Astrolabe - (This video is for you Sam!)

• Richard of Wallingford's Clock - Builder of the some of the most advanced astronomical clocks of his time back in the early1300's. Here's a short clip of one of his creations (reproduced).
• Merkhet - A plumb bob line used by Egyptians to get the North-South Line from aligning the North star.

(If you are interested in making a purchase with us, we would be delighted to serve you!)