I kinda approve the choice for constellations, as you can use the sundial also as a moondial (with a corrective table for the age of moon, and in order to know the hours by night only approximately) and, by marking the shadow cast by the moon on the dial, you could esteem in what constellation the moon is. I think it's an interesting idea.
But I find it too weird to see thirteen constellations... I mean, there was a reason why the old peoples from Mesopotamia and the Egyptians divided the zodiac in 12 equal parts, that the moon would complete ~ 12 cycles around the sky while the sun would complete 1 cycle. Our division of the circle into 360 degrees comes from them, and from their study of the celestial bodies. Dr. Isaac Asimov explains that well in his "Chronology of Science and Discovery". The intromission of the Ophiucus, spoiling the beautiful and symbolic 12 and making 13 in the zodiac is an arbitrary thing, which results from the geometrical division of the sky by modern astronomers. As when I see with my own eyes the stars, the planets and the moon, I don't find that these pass through any constellation between Scorpio and Sagittarius, which are very close to each other, I simply ignore Ophiucus and I do preserve 12 constellations in my sundials, with a division made by myself, and not by IAU, based on the actual stars I see along the ecliptic and not in conventional polygons. 2011/3/21 Frans W. Maes <[email protected]> > Hello Roderick & all, > > The Dutch Sundial Society had its quarterly meeting last Saturday in > Utrecht. A new member, Karin ten Kleij, pointed out some Sicily dials > she had found in the internet, which are adorned with the 13 > constellations. An intriguing coincidence! > > In these cases the constellations are not used for the date lines, as is > the case with the Genk dial, but for decoration, apparently from a modern > astronomical point of view. My Italian is weak, so don't blame me for not > giving a summary of the stories. > > The links are: > http://web.tiscalinet.it/astrofilicatanesi/meridct8.html > http://astrocultura.uai.it/strumenti/meridiana/meridianarivoluzionaria.htm > > Best regards, > Frans Maes > > > On 20-3-2011 9:22, R Wall wrote: > >> HI all, >> >> I found this lovely “Book of Time sundial”: >> http://www.fransmaes.nl/genk/en/gk-x12-e.htm I’ve also found a stone >> book accessory from a monumental supplier here in Australia. This >> looks as if it should be suitable for a book sundial. But as the >> sundial will be out in the weather, and I want the sundial to last. >> What stone should the book be made from? Also any ideas on how the >> inscription should be done for it to last? >> >> Regards, >> Roderick Wall. >> > --------------------------------------------------- > https://lists.uni-koeln.de/mailman/listinfo/sundial > >
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