El astronomical clock of a city is one of the most striking tourist attractions since it has a great history and function. For example, for visitors to Prague, the astronomical clock is one of the most visited places. Among the stories that are told there are some incredible ones.
For this reason, we are going to dedicate this article to telling you the entire history and characteristics of the Prague astronomical clock.
Astronomical clock capable of displaying time
The story of the astronomical clock has numerous details that are completely incredible. For example, one of them is that the master who built the clock was warned to prevent him from creating another one like it again. Some believe it's an amulet that serves to keep all citizens completely safe. As technology advances and the truth about certain historical myths is revealed, we're leaving these stories behind to focus on how it works. Even as the years go by, the pieces of the astronomical clock remain fascinating for any lover of analog systems.
And it is a clock capable of showing time in many ways, similar to a sundialThe design is that of a astrolabe and consists of 3 gears that is capable of marking 5 moments of time at the same time. If we look at the upper part we see a puppet theater located between two blinds in which the 12 apostles are drawn. Each one of them leaves every 60 minutes to indicate what time it is. The figures are more modern than the clock, although they date from the XNUMXth century. This means that the figures were introduced after their creation.
At the bottom of the astronomical clock is a calendar with illustrations of the months and seasons. It also indicates the saint's day of each day of the year. Both parts are artistically interesting, attracting thousands of tourists to Prague year after year. The jewel of this clock is located in the central body, as it was originally designed in 1410.
Astronomical clock capacity
And it is that this watch is very striking as it is capable of indicating the time in five different ways. Its system of pieces is quite curious. We are going to detail each one of them. On the one hand, we have the golden sun that moves around the zodiacal circle. This piece is capable of showing us three hours at the same time. The first indication is the position of the golden hand. It is located on Roman numerals and tells us the time in Prague. When the hand passes through the golden lines, it indicates the time in the form of unequal hours. Finally, when passing through the outer ring, they mark the hours after sunrise according to Bohemian time.
Another of the astronomical clock's capabilities is to indicate the time between sunrise and sunset. The system for indicating this time is divided into 12 "hours." To do this, it uses the distance between the sun and the center of the dial. It's important to keep in mind that this measurement changes throughout the year, since not all days have the same length. As we approach the summer season, we have longer days, and the time between sunrise and sunset increases. On the other hand, during the winter season, we have a shorter time between sunrise and sunset.
Third, the outer edge of the astronomical clock features numbers written in Schwabacher's typeface in gold. These numbers are in charge of indicating the works as it was done in Bohemia and begins to mark from 1 in the evening. So that it can coincide with the solar time, the rings move throughout the year so that it can be measured more accurately.
On the other hand, we have the zodiacal ring. It is responsible for indicating the location of the sun on the ecliptic. The ecliptic is simply the curve along which the Earth moves around the sun. It is the line along which the Earth's translational motion occurs. The order of the zodiacal ring is explained as the basis of the elliptical plane. It is quite common to find it on any astronomical clock. The movement depends on the disc that moves the zodiacal ring.
Some curiosities
The order of this ring is due to the use of a stereographic protection of the ecliptic plane. The North Pole is used as the basis of this plane. It may seem like a strange part, but it is the arrangement found in most astronomical clocks. Finally, one of the curiosities is that there is a lunar sphere that shows us the phases of our satellite. The movement here is similar to the main clock but somewhat faster. Most of the prominence that the astronomical clock gains was located in the central body.
Another curiosity is that it is composed of a stationary disc in the center and several rotating discs that work completely independently. As a summary, we see that it has the zodiacal ring and the outer edge that are written with Schwabacher typography. It also has three needles: one of them is the hand, the second hand is the sun that move through it from top to bottom and third a star point that is connected to the zodiacal ring.
Today, it may seem like a fairly simple system, but in its day, it was a technical marvel. The first piece was built in 1410, and there's nothing more to compare than the technology of that time with that of today. It's worth noting that the mechanical system is so slow that it's impossible to appreciate the movement with the human eye in real time. If we want to see the movement of the astronomical clock we must record and then advance. There are also some computer models where we can do different tests to see how it moves and how it works.
I hope that with this information you can learn more about the Prague astronomical clock and its characteristics.