Astronomical Sphere Ball Ring, Cosmic Finger Ring, Armillary Sphere Ring, Unfold to Change into Cosmic Ball for Couple Lover Mom for Jewelry Gifts

Product Information

The armillary sphere was reintroduced in the national arms and in the national Flag of Portugal in 1911.

Lindberg, David C.; Shank, Michael H. (7 October 2013). The Cambridge History of Science: Volume 2, Medieval Science. Cambridge University Press. p.173. ISBN 978-1-316-02547-5 . Retrieved 15 May 2018. The Beijing Capital International Airport Terminal 3 features a large armillary sphere metal sculpture as an exhibit of Chinese inventions for international and domestic visitors.The concept of the celestial sphere was fundamental to astronomy from Antiquity through the Middle Ages and into the early Modern era. A beautiful object called an armillary sphere appears mysteriously in the gardens of the sisters’ home on Lake Geneva and plays a key role in The Seven Sisters series.

Since ancient times, astronomers around the world have used models of the sky to make calculations. With the advent of the armillary sphere, stargazers were given a physical model to better visualize the lines of celestial longitude and latitude. Created independently in ancient Greece and ancient China, these armillary spheres consisted of spherical rings centered on either the Earth or the Sun. During the 16th and 17th centuries, these astronomy tools were sized down to become fashionable finger rings that moved just like regular armillary spheres. The Sphere was not included in the photographic inventory of Griffiths' collection in 1930 so may have been acquired after that date. Its earlier provenance is unknown. The British Museum has a collection of several armillary sphere rings that are incredibly well-crafted and detailed. When closed, they look like any other ring, but as the different bands are fanned out, the rings take on a unique quality. Built with anywhere between two to eight moving bands, these intricate pieces of jewelry would need to have been executed by skilled craftsmen.Elements of the general description incorporate text from the Encyclopædia Britannica First Edition (1771).

Armillary spheres were among the first complex mechanical devices. Their development led to many improvements in techniques and design of all mechanical devices. Renaissance scientists and public figures often had their portraits painted showing them with one hand on an armillary sphere, which represented the zenith of wisdom and knowledge. The Symonds papers are held by Winterthur Museum in the USA. With the Symonds papers is an album of photographs labelled ‘Furniture Sandridgebury No 1’. Symonds wrote a ‘Portrait of a Collector’ about Percival Griffiths, in Country Life, June 13, 1952. R W Symonds’ book ‘English Furniture from Charles II to George II’ (1929) is illustrated with items from the Sandridgebury collection. In the foreword Griffiths writes of his experience and philosophy as a collector. See also 'Intuitively Collected', by Simon Houfe, Country Life 27 December 1990. Art historian Jessica Stewart writes that in the 17th century, rings such as the above specimen were “used by astronomers to study and make calculations. These pieces of jewelry were considered tokens of knowledge. Inscriptions or zodiac symbols were often used as decorative elements on the bands.” Horizon: in astronomy, the unobstructed horizon is the circumference of the plane tangent to the earth’s surface at the observer’s location that intersects the celestial sphere. The horizon’s altitude is 0 o. Throughout Chinese history, astronomers have created celestial globes ( Chinese: 渾象) to assist the observation of the stars. The Chinese also used the armillary sphere in aiding calendrical computations and calculations.

Used by astronomers to study and make calculations, these pieces of jewelry were considered tokens of knowledge.

Tropic of Capricorn: This small circle (also called the Southern Tropic) forms the southernmost latitude on earth at which the noontime sun can cross the zenith. This occurs around Dec 21 — and is called the winter solstice in the northern hemisphere. A corresponding circle, also called the Tropic of Capricorn, is formed by the projection of the earth’s Tropic of Capricorn onto the celestial sphere. In ancient times, the sun passed through the zodiacal constellation of Capricornus at this time of year — thus its name Capricorn. The word “tropic” derives from the Greek word meaning turn — referring to the point on the sky where the sun changes direction and begins moving north as summer approaches in the northern hemisphere. Today, while precession (the wobble of the earth on its axis) has shifted the winter solstice into the constellational of Sagittarius, the solstitial sun remains in the astrological sign of Capricorn, which is unaffected by precession. The Tropic of Capricorn is currently at latitude 23 o 26.2’ S (23.44° S). Like the obliquity, the latitude of the Tropic of Capricorn varies from22.1 o S and 24.5 o Sover about 41,000 years. The Tropic of Capricorn is moving north toward the equator at about 50 feet per year. Zodiac: a band 18 o wide that is centered on the ecliptic. The zodiac comes from the Greek word for "circle of animals" that form the various constellation of stars in the eclilptic. The constellation of animals aries (the ram), taurus (the bull), cancer (the crab), leo (the lion), scorpius (the scorpion), and capricornus (the capricorn) were named at least a thousand years before by Babylonian and Chaldean astronomers. Since Roman times we also have constellation of libra (scales) and the representation of people in the form of aquarius (the water carrier), gemini (the twins), virgo (the virgin), and sagittarius (the archer).

For most of the second half of the 20th century this object was described by the Whipple Museum as having been made in about 1450. This would make it one of the earliest surviving demonstrational armillaries. Two other armillary spheres held in other museums date from this period, however this object is rather different from both of these. It is very difficult to date the armillary using the style of the lettering. The letter-shapes used to label the rings of the sphere suggest that it may have been produced at an even earlier date: perhaps in the 14th century. And so, by this construction, the machine is equally fitted to show either the real motion of the earth, or the apparent motion of the heavens.

The difficulties of dating the instrument

Zenith: in the horizon coordinate system, it is the position directly overhead on the celestial sphere. The zenith’s altitude is 90 o. De Rose, L.: La sfera armillare di Solunto, in XVIII Seminario di Archeoastronomia, 19–20 marzo, Sestri Ponente, Genova (2016) Colure is one of two principal meridians (great circles) on the celestial sphere—equinoctial colure and solstitial colure. Brashear, Ronald (May 1999). "Astronomiæ instauratæ mechanica by Tycho Brahe: Introduction". Special Collections Department. Smithsonian Institution Libraries . Retrieved July 11, 2020. a b c d Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. (16 November 2006). " Armillary Sphere." Encyclopædia Britannica. Accessed 14 October 2017.