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Astrolabe

Marine Engineering

An astrolabe is an astronomical instrument dating to ancient times, its name deriving from the Ancient Greek for star-taker, also known by its own Arabic and Persian names. The source's lead does not specify a precise origin date or a single inventor or culture. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts
YearSourced to the subject's own account
1235 1
SignificanceSourced to the subject's own account
Later metal astrolabes avoided the warping that affected large wooden instruments, allowing bigger and more accurate builds. 1
Astrolabe
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Associated With

Source Astrolabe (Wikipedia)
Source Astrolabe (Wikipedia)
Sextant, Inventions
Source Astrolabe (Wikipedia)

In Field

Source Astrolabe (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Astrolabe (Wikipedia)
Wikipedia
  • Lead section (entity-description)
    An astrolabe is an astronomical instrument dating to ancient times.
  • History section, geared astrolabe sentence
    The geared mechanical astrolabe was invented by Abi Bakr of Isfahan in 1235.
  • History section, metal astrolabes sentence
    Metal astrolabes avoided the warping that large wooden ones were prone to, allowing the construction of larger and therefore more accurate instruments.
  • Associated With: Armillary sphere, History section, Ancient era subsection, armillary sphere sentence
    An astrolabe is essentially a plane (two-dimensional) version of an armillary sphere, which had already been invented in the Hellenistic period
  • Associated With: Sextant, Introduction section
    The astrolabe, which is a precursor to the sextant, is effective for determining latitude on land or calm seas.
  • Associated With: Planisphere, Construction section
    The astrolabe is, therefore, a predecessor of the modern planisphere.
  • In Field: Marine Engineering, Categories
    Marine navigation
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