#astrolabium

[schistostegapennata]

So, just wanted to share that early modern pop-up astronomy books were a thing and they are absolutely glorious.

Here's a close-up of the little dragon-serpent guy, because he is especially magnificent.

[historysurvivalguide]

Astronomy Inspired Design in Media: Part 23

South of Midnight (2025)

Very limited spoilers ahead: visuals from later acts but no details on who/what

Just finished a play-through of South of Midnight and by far the best part was the animation and character designs. Absolutely beautiful game that makes use of Creole and southern American folklore

A necklace near the end of the game stuck out to me, and appears very reminiscent of an astrolabe and astronomical tool in general

The internal shapes are curved a lot like what you'd see on the face of a real astrolabe to show where stars lie, but clearly more abstracted in this design for just a nice symmetrical design. The scales of the snake appear like the segments of the outer rim of an astrolabe.

I have a tendency to see astrolabes everywhere, but in my defense, it is a very common instrument to pull from to give a vaguely astronomical feel to a design. Earlier in the game, a room is funished with various "science" props that includes an orrey and an armillary sphere as well

It sure is one hell of a statement necklace.

(Character designer's artstation)

This design appears a lot in this segment of the game, both on the back of the main character's outfit:

As well as the floor of the entire boss arena and opening area:

Just an overall very pretty game, give it a look if you haven't already. I was sold on the game from its release trailer a few years back since they beautifully animated and played one of my favorite blues songs for the trailer

[relogioserelogios]

O incrível Astrolabium de Christiaan Van Der Klaauw em ouro branco! 🔥🔥🔥 O modelo fornece uma série de informações astronômicas, incluindo hora solar, nascer e por do Sol, a posição do Sol e da Lua na eclíptica, eclipses do Sol e da Lua, etc. 📷 @christiaanvanderklaauw • • #christiaanvanderklaauw #cvdklaauw#cvdk #astrolabium #astronomy #masterpiece #handmade #art #ahci #hautehorlogerie #relogioserelogios https://www.instagram.com/p/CB1jWGIJxuo/?igshid=1f9ttzgk52tal

[historysurvivalguide]

So, How to Build an Astrolabe: Part Three

Plate to represent the Horizon, Almucantar, and Twilight Arcs

The plate currently shows three concentric circles for the Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, and the equator. This next part builds off the base plate and adds more arcs and circles

The middle plate--known as the Tympan--is perhaps the most complex piece of the entire astrolabe, so this is part three of constructing the plate and only part two of specifically constructing the tympan plate

The circles on the face of the plate represent “almucantar” and twilight arcs.

This is a step-by-step guide to the complete construction of an astrolabe that I think might exist. At least, in any accessible form.

My goal is for this to be as accessible as possible for any kind of reader, so if there are any question, free free to reach out

So, How to Build an Astrolabe: Tympan Plate - Horizon, Almucantar, and Twilight Arcs - History Survival Guide

This week, build an astrolabe’s tympan—latitude—plate to represent the Horizon, Almucantar, and Twilight Arcs   Horizon and Almucantar Arcs

🚀 Enjoy! Stay safe and keep learning, fellow chrononauts 🚀

[historysurvivalguide]

So, How to Build an Astrolabe: Part Two

Plate to represent the Tropics and the Equator

The construction continues into part two!

The middle plate--known as the Tympan--is perhaps the most complex piece of the entire astrolabe, so I am going to be breaking it into a few parts to make it more readable

The first part starts with just three concentric circles for the Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, and the Equator.

No math needed!

This is a step-by-step guide to the complete construction of an astrolabe that I think might exist. At least, in any accessible form.

My goal is for this to be as accessible as possible for any kind of reader, so if there are any question, free free to reach out

So, How to Build an Astrolabe: Tympan Plate - Tropics and the Equator - History Survival Guide

This week, build an astrolabe’s tympan—latitude—plate to represent the Equator, Tropic of Capricorn, and Tropic of Cancer   The beating meta

🚀 Enjoy! Stay safe and keep learning, fellow chrononauts 🚀

[historysurvivalguide]

So, How to Build an Astrolabe: Part Four

Plate to represent the Azimuth Arcs

The plate currently shows the concentric circles for the Tropics and equator as well as the arcs for the almucanter circles (see part three). This new section will cover azimuth arcs! They are the spider web looking lines in the center of the plate.

The middle plate--known as the Tympan--is perhaps the most complex piece of the entire astrolabe, so this is part four of constructing the plate and only part three of specifically constructing the tympan plate

This part is perhaps the most difficult of all the steps since uses a new kind of projection method, but it ends up being quite beautiful when the pieces are done

This is a step-by-step guide to the complete construction of an astrolabe that I think might exist. At least, in any accessible form

As always, my goal is for this to be as accessible as possible for any kind of reader, so if there are any questions, please feel free to reach out

So, How to Build an Astrolabe: Tympan Plate - Azimuth - History Survival Guide

This week, build an astrolabe’s tympan—latitude—plate to represent the Azimuth arcs   Tympan Plate: Azimuth Arcs Among the dense series of o

🚀 Enjoy! Stay safe and keep learning, fellow chrononauts 🚀

[historysurvivalguide]

Exploded view of an Astrolabe

[historysurvivalguide]

So, How to Build an Astrolabe: Overview

Let’s gooooooooo! 🎉 🔭

Part One is live! Long time coming, but it is finally out. Biggest project I’ve undertaken for the History Survival Guide so far but learned a lot and I am excited to finally get a chance to share this

This is a step-by-step guide to the complete construction of an astrolabe that I think might exist. At least, in any accessible form

This work is a synthesis of dozens of papers/books, one or two out-of-print books, a book entirely in French that I had to translate each section as I read, a few emails to authors, and one long Twitter conversation with a museum curator

My goal is for this to be as accessible as possible for any kind of reader, so if there are any questions, feel free to reach out

So, How to Build an Astrolabe: Overview - History Survival Guide

This week, break apart an astrolabe to begin to understand this strange ancient device   The astrolabe remains possibly the most iconic inst

🚀 Enjoy! Stay safe and keep learning, fellow chrononauts 🚀