The astrolabe was created when the earth was understood as the stationary centre of the entire cosmos.
Modern astronomy presents a completely different and enormously expanded vision of the universe. But the astrolabe still works, because it captures the appearance of the sky as seen by the naked eye.
It may seem obsolete, but the astrolabe is more accessible than ever before.
This is taken from a digital version of the instrument, freely available online. On the website you can operate this astrolabe, setting it for any time and place in the northern hemisphere. You can also turn on, manipulate and explore its many different features. It even offers the possibility of adding the exact positions of the Moon and the other classical planets (Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn) – just as ancient and medieval astronomers dreamed of doing.
