Orrery facts for kids
An orrery is a mechanical model of the Solar System. It shows the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons. It is usually a heliocentric model.
The Greeks had working planetaria. The first orrery that was a planetarium of the modern era was produced in 1704. One was presented to Charles Boyle, 4th Earl of Orrery – hence the name. They are usually driven by a clockwork mechanism. The globe in the centre represents the Sun, and a planet is at the end of each arm.
The first known orrery was the Antikythera mechanism, variously dated from 60 to 150 BC.
Images for kids
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Antikythera mechanism (main fragment), ca. 125 BCE
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Carlo G Croce, reconstruction of Dondi's Astrarium, originally built between 1348 and 1364 in Padua
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Astronomical clock (Venus-Mercury side), Eberhard Baldewein et al., Marburg-Kassel, 1563–1568 - Mathematisch-Physikalischer Salon, Dresden - DSC08057
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The Orrery inside the Sphaera Copernicana, designed by Joseph of Gottorp and build by Andreas Bösch, 1653
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A Philosopher Lecturing on the Orrery (ca. 1766) by Joseph Wright of Derby
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The orrery built by wool carder Eise Eisinga from 1774 to 1781 in his living room, the oldest functioning planetarium in the world
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A 1766 Benjamin Martin Orrery, used at Harvard
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An orrery made by Robert Brettell Bate, circa 1812. Now in Thinktank, Birmingham Science Museum.
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See also
In Spanish: Planetario mecánico para niños
