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Mariner's Astrolabe
A mariner’s astrolabe with a cast brass frame, which is missing the alidade and suspension ring. The mater has been made from a single casting with the bottom ballast, which is wedge-shaped. This is to assist the instrument to hang the plumb in the vertical plane during an observation. This device is badly eroded and the scales and other marks are obliterated.
The instrument’s pronounced wedge section might indicate that it is of the second rather than the first half of the sixteenth century.
The objet was found on the beach at Telegraph Bay, Alderney, Channel Islands, in 1925, after a storm.
The instrument’s pronounced wedge section might indicate that it is of the second rather than the first half of the sixteenth century.
The objet was found on the beach at Telegraph Bay, Alderney, Channel Islands, in 1925, after a storm.
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Object Details
| ID: | NAV1801 |
|---|---|
| Collection: | Astronomical and navigational instruments |
| Type: | Mariner's Astrolabe |
| Display location: | Not on display |
| Creator: | Unknown |
| Date made: | circa 1550-1600 |
| Credit: | National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London. Bequeathed by Miss Ethelwyn C. Shiel, 1993 |
| Measurements: | Diameter: 179 mm; Balast: 13 mm thick at the top, graduating to 19 mm at the bottom, and weight 1588 grams. |