Accession No

5997

Brief Description

‘Celestial Indicator’, planetarium / orrery within a Copernican armillary sphere, by Henry L. Bryant, U.S.A., 1872

Origin

U.S.A.; Connecticut; Hartford

Maker

Bryant, Henry L.

Class

astronomy; demonstration

Earliest Date

1872

Latest Date

1872

Inscription Date

1872

Material

metal (brass, cast iron); wood; paper

Dimensions

height: 470mm; diameter: 292mm; base diameter: 191mm

Special Collection

Provenance

Purchased from Trevor Philip & Sons Ltd, 75a Jermyn Street, St James, London, on or before 13/04/2004.

Inscription

The Celestial Indicator
By Henry Bryant. [Hartford Conn.
Explanation and directions...
Patented Sept. 10, 1872

Description Notes

‘Celestial Indicator’, planetarium / orrery within a Copernican armillary sphere, by Henry L. Bryant, USA, 1872

Turned cast iron base with gilt-line decoration carrying pivoting armillary sphere; pivot adjustable by brass knob, divided 0-47, numbered to 10˚, subdivided to 1˚; meridian circle (outermost armillary band) is marked for ‘north declination’ and ‘south declination’, divided 0-180 and on the same scale 0-90-0, numbered to 10˚, and divided to 1˚; second (fixed) meridian circle is ungraduated, and marked ‘First meridian of the heavens’; celestial equator (equinoctial) is marked ‘right ascension’, divided inside and outside 0-360, numbered to 10˚, subdivided to 1˚; plate at one side of the armillary shows the ‘Heavens around the Pole of the Ecliptic’ (this explains the phenomenon of procession), the serpent constellation is shown breathing the words ‘Pathway of the Axis’; the ecliptic is represented by a larger armillary ring, and is paper covered on the inside (the label carrying the instructions is on the outside), the ecliptic is divided 0-30 twelve times, numbered to 10, and subdivided to 1, this band carries extensive markings for such things as constellations, solstices, months etc.; an axis carries the central brass sphere representing the Sun, the eight then-known planets, all on rods, represented by wooden spheres, and the asteroid belt, represented by a small plate marked ‘asteroids/110’; the Earth is painted, and has its own pivoted moon, and another ring rotates around the axis carrying an illustration on two plates, both marked ‘Moon’s Node’ of the moons phases.

Complete.

References

Events

Description
Henry Bryant patented the design for this ‘Celestial Indicator’ in 1872. He intended it as an “Improvement in Armillary Spheres” - models of the Solar System that have been made since the time of the Ancient Greeks. His design places a planetarium within a Copernican armillary sphere.

Bryant claimed in his Patent application that “my invention is an instrument for use in schools, colleges, and the like, for illustrating and explaining various celestial phenomena, such as are commonly the subject of study and investigation in pursuing the study of astronomy.”

At the centre of the model is the Sun, and around this users can see where the Earth is positioned compared to the other planets. There are only eight planets here since Pluto was not discovered until 1930. The scale of the model is not accurate, however; Jupiter’s diameter is in reality about eleven times that of the Earth, for example.

The inside of the wide brass ring that encircles the planet models shows a reduced version of the night sky, indicating the positions of major stars. The other brass rings show features of the celestial sphere, such as the celestial equator, meridian, and ecliptic.
22/05/2009
Created by: Joshua Nall on 22/05/2009

FM:46463