Chartres Cathedral

An Angel holding a sundial with the date 1528 resides on Chartres Cathedral’s South side of the south tower of west façade, with two other sculptures in the ‘miscellaneous’ category: an ass playing a lyre (an illustration of the Latin saying “Asinus ad Lyram” which is the term for an awkward person) and a sow spinning. The angel is a twentieth century reproduction- the original is in the crypt.

Wildrik Botjes Planetarium

Wildrik Botjes completed his home planetarium in 1868 after 15 years of construction. He was a watchmaker and goldsmith, and lived in The Netherlands. The planetarium passed from person to person in his family, and now resides at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where it was restored and functions today.

9:30 am October 23

At 9:30 am, the sundial shadow tip falls in front of Queens Star Autobody, on 44th Avenue between 11th and 21st streets.

Eise Eisinga Planetarium

Between 1774 and 1781 Eise Eisinga built a solar system model into his living room ceiling in the province of Friesland, The Netherlands.

All the planets in Eisinga’s model orbit the sun at the same speed as do the real planets: Mercury in 88 days, the earth in one year, and Saturn in more than 29 years. It is the oldest still-working model—he left drawings explanations and instructions, including:

• Don’t forget to set the date ring correctly on the leap day.
• Check the speed of the clock during sudden temperature changes.
• Adjust the orbit of Saturn every year because I made a little miscalculation.
• Don’t forget to paint new year numbers every 22 years.

9:10 am October 15

Shadow crosses the intersection (44th Road and 11th Street) where this photo was taken, the tip landing on the top of the building across the street.

Sundial Within a Sundial Number Two

Next week in the early morning (7:15 am), a day or two on either side of October 20th, the LIC Sundial shadow intersects an armillary sphere across the east river in Manhattan.

Sundial-sundial alignment