The Sun Compass - AstroMedia
With the help of this simple device, the points of the compass can be determined precisely even without a compass. To do this, the movement of the sun's shadow must be observed and marked for one day.
This is how it is done
Align the sun compass on a well-sunny, horizontal surface to the point where the sun is at noon. Then, for one day, at least before 11 a.m. until after 2 p.m., follow the movement of the shadow and mark the points exactly where the tip of the shadow touches one of the circular lines. In the evening, the two points of contact that lie on the same circle are connected with a line. These lines lie exactly in the east-west direction. If you halve these lines and connect the halving points with the centre of the circles, you get a line running exactly north-south.
The Indian Circle
This method is called the "Indian circle". It was already known in ancient times and is also very suitable to be transferred to the scale of a large area, e.g. a schoolyard. All you need is a string compass and a long wooden stick.
For teachers and pupils
The solar compass is easy to build and is an excellent teaching aid for secondary schools. Like all other astro materials, it can also be used for other group and project work on astronomy and physics.
| Aspiration scale: | Easy |
|---|---|
| Time Line: | 0,5 Hour |
Cut-out cardboard sheet, printed
for assembly, DIN A4
with detailed assembly instructions
Size of the finished article: approx. 19 x 30 x 8 cm (L/W/H)
€1.50
€1.43
€1.35
€1.28