Eise Eisinga Planetarium facts for kids
| Koninklijk Eise Eisinga Planetarium | |
Front of the museum in 2007
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| Established | 1781 |
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| Location | Franeker, Netherlands |
| Type | Science museum |
| Official name: Eisinga Planetarium in Franeker | |
| Type: | Cultural |
| Criteria: | iv |
| Designated: | 2023 (45th session) |
| Reference #: | 1683 |
| UNESCO region: | Europe |
The Royal Eise Eisinga Planetarium (Dutch: Koninklijk Eise Eisinga Planetarium) is a super old and amazing model of our Solar System. It was built in the 1700s in Franeker, Netherlands. Today, it's a museum where everyone can visit and learn about space. It's special because it's the oldest working model of its kind in the whole world! In 2023, it became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This means it's considered very important globally.
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A Look Back: How the Planetarium Started
This incredible model was built by a man named Eise Eisinga. He wasn't a professional scientist. He was a wool carder, which means he prepared wool for spinning. But he loved astronomy! He spent seven years building this model, from 1774 to 1781.
Building a Model of the Solar System
Eise Eisinga built his mechanical planetarium right inside his own house! He put it in the timber roof of his living room ceiling. William I, who later became the first King of the Netherlands, was very impressed. He bought the house, and it became a royal planetarium.
What You Can See at the Museum
The museum has the special planetarium room itself. There's also a screening room where you can watch documentaries about space. You can also see special exhibits about modern astronomy.
Other cool things on display include Eisinga's old wool workshop. There's also a collection of old astronomy tools. These include telescopes from the Georgian era and 18th-century octants. You can also see a tellurium, which is a model of the Sun, Earth, and Moon.
A World Heritage Site
The planetarium is listed as a Rijksmonument, which means it's a national heritage site in the Netherlands. In 2011, the Dutch government suggested it for UNESCO World Heritage status. This was because it has been a working planetarium open to the public for so long. It also works hard to keep its history alive. In 2023, it officially became a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Amazing Orrery
An orrery is a special kind of planetarium. It's a working model that shows how the planets in our Solar System move. Eise Eisinga's orrery is painted in royal blue with shiny gold outlines. The Sun is painted in the middle of the ceiling. The Earth is shown by a golden ball hanging on a wire. The zodiac signs are also painted around the edge.
How the Orrery Works
The orrery works like a giant clock. It moves just like the real planets, but on a much smaller scale. The model is very accurate. However, it's not absolutely perfect. For example, its pendulum is made of one type of metal. This means temperature changes can affect it a little.
The main part of the model is on the ceiling of what was Eisinga's living room. Most of the gears and other parts that make it move are hidden above the ceiling. A pendulum clock powers it, using nine weights. The planets move around the model automatically, showing their real-time positions. You only need to make a small adjustment by hand every four years. This is to account for February 29th in a leap year.
The planetarium also shows the current time and date. A wooden plank with the year numbers needs to be changed every 22 years. This orrery is the oldest one in the world that is still working! To build the gears for the model, Eise Eisinga used 10,000 handmade nails. Besides the basic planet model, it also shows the phase of the moon and other cool things happening in space. The orrery was built to a scale of 1:1,000,000,000,000. This means one millimeter on the model represents one million kilometers in space!
