Vintage Antique Brass Astrolabe 8" Arabic Globe Navigation Astrological Calendar

An interesting item , it came from the city of Roorkee in northern India and took a month to make it to California . It looks like it was made from a mold of a very old { centuries at least } astrolabe . All the writing is in Arabic and I think it is missing a part , I think it should have a pointer on the back to calculate the angle above the horizon of a prominent star to find your latitude . These were navigation instruments used before sextants came along . It consists of 3 parts , the bottom is the Mater which represents the earth as a level disk with no curvature or motion , the top is the Rete which represents the night sky showing the prominent stars which rotate around the north star , and in between are plates showing detailed info relating to celestial bodies when viewed from different latitudes . Its heavy brass and polishes up to a beautiful luster . Enjoy .

Great Astrolobe! Only problem was it not having a Sexton on the back. But that was described anyway. Overall, it's better then I thought, after getting one before that was all disappointment. Thanks!

The delivered item does not have a wingnut for changing the disks and seems to only have one disk. the picture clearly shows a removable wingnut and screw attachment as well as different disks. The metal face is also poorly aligned and scratches the disk inside when rotated.

Great quality, heavy-weight and a perfect replica of the original medieval astrolabe.