John, It my understanding the the Minnamimura gnomon height is 37.3 meters.
This issue of the largest is a tough one but one that a lot of diallist and non-diallist alike are interested in. Maybe NASS should undertake documenting the dimensions of the larger dials and post it on the web site. ++ron ----- Original Message ----- From: "John Carmichael" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Sundial List" <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, June 16, 2002 9:18 AM Subject: Monumental Statistics? > Hello All: > > Please excuse my flood of questions lately, but new ones keep coming up. > > How do I answer this question that people have asked me over and over?: > > What is the largest sundial in the world and how does Kitt Peak compare? I > don't want to make any claims that are untrue. > > Sounding too much like Clinton, I guess it all depends on how you define > big. The size can refer to either the gnomon height, the gnomon length, the > length of the gnomon base or the area of the dial face. It might even be > defined by the maximum distance from the style to the furthest time point on > the face. (In this case, you could difine largness by the width of the > penumbra. The largest sundial in the world would have the widest penumbra. > Jaipur's penumbra is only 10 cm wide whereas Kitt Peak's widest penumbra is > 20 cm).Things get more complicated when you compare different types of > sundials. The only other really big ones that I know about are The Jaipur > equatorial, Team Disney in Orlando, and the Minami-Mura in Japan. I'm sure > there must be others really big ones. I have dimensions of Jaipur, Disney > and Kitt Peak. Here are the dimensions I have: > > Jaipur Equatorial Sundial: gnomon height: 27m, gnomon length: <30m, gnomon > base: 44m, area: <1 acre > > Kitt Peak Sundial: gnomon height: 24m, gnomon length: 45m, gnomon base: 54m, > face area: 685 sq. m > > Minami-Mura Sundial: Dimensions unknown > > Team Disney Sundial: gnomon height: 37m, gnomon length(not applicable), base > of gnomon (not applicable), > face area: unknown > > If you look at gnomon height, Team Disney is the biggest (37m). If you look > at gnomon length, Kitt Peak is the biggest (45m). Kitt Peak also has the > longest gnomon base (54m). But Jaipur occupies the largest area (almost an > acre). > > What definition or combination of definitions should I use? > > What sundials have I missed that might be record-holder contenders for the > largest sundial? > > How should I answer this difficult question that everybody's asking? > > Thanks > > John > > John L. Carmichael Jr. > Sundial Sculptures > 925 E. Foothills Dr. > Tucson Arizona 85718 > USA > > Tel: 520-696-1709 > Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Website: <http://www.sundialsculptures.com> > > > - -
