Research & Collections
Historic Scientific Instruments Collection: A Selection
Orreries
DPW-1. A grand orrery, about 39" in diameter, this was made by Thomas Heath in London around 1740. After the discovery of Uranus in 1781, the owner had an outer ring (which does not move) added to show the new planet. For this photograph the mechanism was raised out of its cabinet.
A-156.This curious object is probably the first orrery ever made. It was made by George Graham in London between 1704 and 1709, is driven (very slowly) by clockwork, and shows the rotation of the Earth around the Sun and that of the Moon around the Earth.
A-61. This grand orrery is believed to have been made for George III of England. It shows the motions of Mercury, Venus, and Earth around the Sun; the motion of the Moon in an inclined orbit around Earth; night and day; the seasons of the year; the phases of the moon; and other astronomical phenomena.
Orreries or planetaria are mechanical models that show the motion of planets around the Sun, the Moon around the Earth, or both. There is a good deal of ambiguity in the names used for these mechanisms. Strictly speaking, A-156 is a tellurian, since it shows only the earth and moon. Orreries, and particularly grand orreries such as A-61 and DPW-1, are usually more complex and accurate than mechanisms merely termed "planetaria."
The "planetarium" as a simple orrery should not be confused with the "planetarium" as a domed theater on which the heavens are depicted!
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