overall: 14.5 cm x 9 cm x 3.2 cm; 5 23/32 in x 3 17/32 in x 1 1/4 in
Object Name:
astrolabe
Date made:
ca 1660
Description:
The astrolabe is an astronomical calculating device used from ancient times into the eighteenth century. Measuring the height of a star using the alidade on the back of the instrument, and knowing the latitude, one could find the time of night and the position of other stars. The openwork piece on the front, called the rete, is a star map of the northern sky. Pointers on the rete correspond to stars; the outermost circle is the Tropic of Capricorn, and the circle that is off-center represents the zodiac, the apparent annual motion of the sun. Engraved plates that fit below the rete have scales of altitude and azimuth (arc of the horizon) for specific latitudes. This brass Persian astrolabe has a mater or body with throne, a handle, a ring, an alidade with pin, a rete, five plates, and a wedge at the front that holds the instrument together.
The instrument is dated about 1660 A.D. It is signed with the mark of Muḥammad Mahdi.
Reference:
For a detailed description of this object, see Sharon Gibbs with George Saliba<a href="https://repository.si.edu/handle/10088/2444"><I>Planispheric Astrolabes from the National Museum of American History</I></a>, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1984, pp. 79-82. The object is referred to in the catalog as CCA No. 44.
Location:
Currently not on view
Credit Line:
Gift of International Business Machines Corporation
