I agree that it is not likely to be a sundial. I wonder what
markings are hidden under the flower bowl. For example, this could
be an anniversary sundial, marking solar noon with a light beam on a
particular date. Or maybe it is a type of compass aligned with the
celestial pole. Or maybe a mirror floats in the bowl, and the user
looks down the tube, and their gaze is reflected up towards the pole
star. It would be nice to know if there are markings under that
flower-pot!
-Bill
On 8/19/2011 3:19 PM, Frans W. Maes wrote:
Hi all,
Thanks to the increased attachment size I can post the illustrated
question of Duncan Meyers to the list, together with my initial
response. Any additional suggestions regarding the nature of this
object?
Best regards,
Frans Maes
Original Message
Subject: Re: Question on a possible sundial.
Date: Fri, 19 Aug 2011 08:49:21 -0700
From: Duncan Meyers
To: f.w.m...@rug.nl
Frans,
Yes, you are more than welcome to post it to the mailing list and
see if anyone else knows or has an idea.. My thought when first
seeing this was that it would allow light into the tube and focus
the light to a point which would then move along a line and would
track not only the time but also the date as well. Yes, the tube
has lenses inside that has a small image when looking through it.
Kinda like looking through the end of a telescope and you see an
image but it is really small and far away.
I'm part of a solar spectrograph competition to design and build a
spectrograph and was thinking about using this model as a setup
design. So the light would pass through the tube and be reflected
downward into the vertical tube where it would pass through a
collimeter and then through the grating.
But, thank you for your help. I look forward to seeing what your
members have to say.
Best regards,
Duncan Meyers
Connected by MOTOBLUR™ on T-Mobile
-Original message-
From: "Frans W. Maes"
To: Duncan Meyers
Sent: Fri, Aug 19, 2011 03:14:40 PDT
Subject: Re: Question on a possible sundial.
Hello Duncan,
It looks sundialish, but I don't think it is. If the tube is
pointing at Polaris, it could have been part of a pole-style. But
no ring with hour numbers, parallel to the equator, is present.
Neither are there numbers on the rim of the flower bowl.
In the old days a type of sundial was known as "noon cannon" (see
attachment for an example). A lens focused the sun's rays on a
small, loaded cannon at noon, which then fired. So the
neighbourhood could synchronize their watches and clocks. But then
it is necessary to adjust the tilt of the lens holder to the sun's
noon altitude on that day. And I don't see such an adjustment
here.
What else could it have been? Does the tube have lenses at either
end? Can the tube slide in the tube holder? If it is a monocular,
one could perhaps observe enlarged flowers with insects on them or
so. Or if the sun passes the point in the sky at which the tube is
aiming (which would occur twice a year) a hot spot could set a
piece of wood, paper or so on fire, or heat a cup of water.
That reminds me of a sculpture with a similar function, the 'Solar
Orbit Transit Station'. See my website, www.fransmaes.nl/sundials
and choose "Related objects" in the main menu. It is the first
thumbnail.
Does this make any sense? If you like, I could post your question
to the Sundial Mailing list, a forum of sundialists around the
world.
Best regards,
Frans Maes
On 17-8-2011 20:20, Duncan Meyers wrote:
Hi,
I looked through your site and other sites and can't seem to
figure
out what this is. Do you know if it is an exotic sundial that uses
a
point of light instead of a shadow?
Duncan Meyers
503-933-6097
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