The Manual Orrery


The Manual Orrery is an astronomical demonstration tool that gives a visual and tactile representation of the planets and their motions. It is carefully constructed from oak, birch, brass, acrylic, paper, steel, and polyethylene and is designed for hands on display in museums and classrooms, and for private use



The Manual Orrery
This booklet contains charts to set the Manual Orrery for any date from 2000 to 2020.
    

The planets are represented in their orbits about the sun and charts are used to position the planets as they would appear today or at any point in time. The Manual Orrery booklet contains instructions and charts for setting up and using the Orrery.



The basic Manual Orrery comprises the six planets visible to the naked eye--Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. In the basic model the relative sizes of the planets are depicted in a general sense with tiny balls used for Mercury and Mars, medium balls for Venus and Earth, and larger balls for Jupiter and Saturn. The sun is shown as a ball somewhat larger than Jupiter.



This photo shows the acrylic shelf which is used to hold the booklet containing the charts. This will prevent misplacing the booklet. The legs of the Orrery are adjustable to allow for uneven surfaces.


The levitation capabilities of the Manual Orrery are strictly legendary, and are effected through slight of hand.



er, um...
Maybe later models will have flying capabilities.



This configuration of the six naked-eye planets is only seen (very approximately) every several hundred years. It occurs in this photo due to the effects of gravity on the vertically held model.









After flying high, the Manual Orrery is here shown back down to earth.



The Orrery is shown here in front of a mysterious ancient cave.



The circular chart is the key to setting up the Orrery and helping to locate positions of the planets in the sky.



The constellations of the zodiac are in their true (current for this century) alignment with the months of the year. The zodiacal names are inverted in order to represent the view looking outward from the solar system.



The yellow band is for aligning the planets according to their solar orientation. The booklet contains charts that specify the degree setting for each day of the year. You might want to set Mercury every week or so, Venus and Earth every few weeks, Mars every month or two, Jupiter maybe once or twice a year, and Saturn every year or two.





In the above configuration, from the point of view of the earth (the ball in the lower right of the photo) the sun is located in Scorpius. This shows why the zodiacal constellation names need to be inverted compared to the months and degree numbers..



The planets are made from birch wood, as are the balls that form the legs of the Orrery. The rods and the collars that hold them are brass. The table of the Orrery is oak, and the shelf below and the cover for the circular chart are acrylic.





The basic model shows the relative positions of the planets. In the Scale Model (Model 2A not shown), the relative distances of the planets are also depicted, with Jupiter and Saturn on telescoping rods, Saturn extending out several feet from the base while Mercury is within an inch of the sun. The telescoping rods can easily be collapsed for  safety and compactness.

Future Options for the Orrery

Planet Locator
A rotating tool that quickly shows the position of a selected planet on the ecliptic plane or zodiac. (Without the tool you have to visually align the earth with the planet in question, then sight a parallel line from the sun, not too difficult, but quicker and more accurate with the locator tool.)

Day/Night indicator
A rotating tool that shows what time of night to look for a particular planet in the sky.


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