h a l f b a k e r yGo ahead. Stick a fork in it.
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The movement of this orrery is entirely contained within the model sun. The planets are attached on arms much stronger than the usual spindly stalks.
Each sphere has a type of bayonet fitting at its north pole, and the stand has a single column with a matching fitting from which the orrery hangs.
The idea is that you can detach the whole mechanism from the support column and mount a different planet at the centre. The movement is strong enough to support anything from a heliocentric solar system to a plutocentric one.
browser based simulation
http://mitxela.com/other/orrery [mitxela, Jan 02 2015]
[link]
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Ooh I likey. Can we change and morph the shape and size of the Earth at whim too? |
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Variocentric Orrery $129.95 Flat Earth/turtles-all-the-way-down expansion pack $59.95 Causing Ptolemy to continually spin in his grave... priceless. |
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Excellent! This reminds me of another idea, which I've been meaning to post for a while... |
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You could have a rotating, telescopic support arm for the sun, obviating the need for changing the support. |
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Problem is, the planetary arms would give the game away, demonstrating it to be merely an offset heliocentric model. Better to have each body mounted on a seperate, rotating, telescoping arm. |
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If each body was formed as a coloured / printed rubber ballon, their relative sizes could be adjusted by a base-mounted air pump. Possibly some kind of scale/laminar-construction could be used for similar effect. |
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It certainly would be nice to give no indication of the mechanism, and let the viewer decide on what makes the most sense to have at the centre. |
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One day I shall build a variocentric orrery out of brass (possibly with the option of interchangeable flat earth/great a'tuin) but in the mean time I have built one out of javascript. |
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Thanks for a fun half hour [mitx]! |
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