General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

BRONZE

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

21.1 cm

Width

15.8 cm

Height

3.2 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Exploration and Survey

Category

Measurement-angles

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

International

Country

United States of America

State/Province

Massachusetts

City

Boston

Context

Country

Unknown

State/Province

Unknown

Period

THIS REPLICA MADE FOR STUDY/DISPLAY PURPOSES IN C.1976-1978

Canada

REPLICA OF ASTROLABE BELIEVED TO HAVE BEEN USED BY SAMUEL DE CHAMPLAIN IN 1613 WHILE TRAVELLING UP THE OTTAWA RIVER. BASED ON ENTRIES IN HIS PRIVATE LOGS AND THE INCREASED RATE OF ERROR IN DETERMINING HIS LOCATION AFTER JUNE 6-7TH, HISTORIANS ASSERT CHAMPLAIN LOST HIS ASTROLABE WHILE PORTAGING A SMALL LAKE. AN ASTROLABE WAS FOUND IN 1867 NEAR COBDEN, ON AND IS WIDELY ACCEPTED AS CHAMPLAIN'S.

Function

DETERMINES THE HEIGHT OF A STAR ABOVE THE HORIZON; USED WITH ASTRONOMICAL TABLES, CAN DETERMINE THE LATITUDE OF THE OBSERVER.

Technical

THE ASTROLABE WAS INVENTED BY THE EGYPTIANS C.4THC., AND USED FOR OVER 2,000 YEARS. BY OBSERVING THE SUN OR CERTAIN STARS IT MAY BE USED TO DETERMINE TIME OF DAY OR NIGHT, LATITUDE AND HENCE LOCATION. MARINERS' ASTROLABES ARE A SIMPLER, PLAINER & MORE RUGGED VERSION OF THE PLANASPHERIC VARIETY. MARINERS' ASTROLABES ARE MADE HEAVY, IN ORDER TO REDUCE ERROR DUE TO MOVEMENT ON SHIPBOARD. SOME ARE FITTED WITH A HANGING WEIGHT, TO FURTHER INCREASE THEIR STABILITY (REF.1)

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

'1603' INCISED BETWEEN TWO STARS ON CENTRE LOWER FRONT OF ASTROLABE. CIRCLE DIVIDED 0-90-0-90-0 BY SINGLE DEGREES. LABELLED AT 10-DEGREE INTERVALS; 5-DEGREE INCREMENTS LABELLED 'V', 'INTERNATIONAL/ MUSEUM/ REPLICAS' & LOGO STAMPED INTO BACK, BELOW SUSPENSION RING.

Missing

NONE

Finish

DULL, ROUGH GOLDTONE FINISH

Decoration

N/A