Monday, October 7, 2013

The Beautiful Mechanical Device Called Orrery

By Rhea Solomon


Orrery, also known as Planetarium, represents our Solar system. It was once given to Earl of Orrery, and got its name after him. They can be small enough to fit into your hand, or larger than your living room, but all are great when it comes to explaining how different planets of the Solar system move and rotate. Sometimes they are built in proportions, but rarely.

Classic orrery have the Sun placed in the middle, while other planets rotate around it. The model that contains the Sun, Earth and the Moon is quite common. It is called tellurion, and it illustrates the complex rotations of our planet and its moon. Lunarium is a simple model of the Earth and its moon alone, built to illustrate their positions and movements. The same thing can be found built for Jupiter and its numerous moons, and in this case it is called Jovilabe.

The tellurium is the most common model of an orrery. It shows how the Earth moves, rotating around its axis and around the Sun at the same time, while the Moon is rotating around the Earth. Orbital periods and rotating rates are mostly accurate, and this model can be very useful for explaining the occurrence of different seasons, for example, or to explain different moon phases.

Common orreries usually include planets from Mercury to Saturn. Other planets are far away, and it wouldn't be practical to include hem. Besides, including Jupiter and all its moons might be impractical. Another thing common to a great majority of orreries is the fact they are rarely built to scale, except when used for scientific purposes. It would require too much complications.

Mechanical clock can be used for making very simple model of this device. In this case you would have to place the Sun in the middle, the Earth should be on the minute hand, and the Jupiter should be placed on the hour hand. It wouldn't be accurate for long, because Jupiter's year lasts for about 11.86 Earth's years, but it could help you explain the planets rotations.

Besides being useful, orreries are very decorative. They can be built of all kinds of materials. Large models can still be found in England, where these devices were once very popular. Today people usually buy smaller, highly decorative models, to keep them in their offices or homes. They are mostly built using polished metals.

Even so, since they can be very decorative, various metals are mostly used for constructing them. Very nice and expensive models are kept in some museums, decorated with precious gems and made from gold or silver. They are quite appreciated among collectors as well, and can achieve high prices on auctions.

Even today they are some people who made a business designing these devices for different buyers. Large ones can take years to build, but you can also order yourself a very nice, original orrery. Thanks to the modern technology, these models can be quite accurate today, although they are still rarely built to scale. You can also find lovely items on auctions, as well as in antique shops.




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