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Orrery Model Sun Earth Moon Planetarium NEEDS REPAIR
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Orrery Model Sun Earth Moon Planetarium NEEDS REPAIR
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Orrery - Model of Sun, Earth and Moon - Planetarium For auction is a nice, fully functional orrery or planetarium. This provides a nice illustration of the "clockwork universe." It also makes a great display item.THE SUN BLINKS ON AND OFF DUE TO A WIRING PROBLEM. THE MOON NEEDS TO BE REATTACHED TO THE BASE OF THE EARTH GLOBE. ALL PARTS ARE NECESSARY FOR THE REPAIRS. IF YOU ARE A TINKERING PERSON AND KNOW HOW TO ADDRESS WIRING PROBLEMS, THIS WILL BE A VERY GOOD DEAL FOR YOU. THE PLANETARIUM ROTATES MANUALLY AND ALL THE PARTS ARE IN THE BOX. ALSO, THE GEARBOX IS NOT OPERATING AT A NORMAL LEVEL. I THINK THAT IS ALSO IN THE WIRING OF THE DEVICE. THE GEARBOX ROTATES THE PLANETARIUM, BUT THE MOTOR IS RUNNING WEAKLY AND I AM THINKING IT IS NOT GETTING ENOUGH POWER DUE TO THE WAY IT WAS WIRED. I COULD NOT SELL THIS ONE AS NEW DUE TO THE PROBLEMS JUST DESCRIBED. The black box in the picture is a battery operated gear drive, which is turned on by the white switch. When you slide the drive forward and fasten it with the black knob, the orrery is mechanically driven. The moon will rotate around the earth, while the earth is rotating around its own axis and also around the sun. If you want to manually adjust the position of the earth and moon (for example, to show a phase of the moon or an eclipse) then you slide the gear box backward and tighten the black screw. After that you can move things around by hand.The switch and wire leading to the metal base of the orrery are for a light in the sun. The batteries for this are underneath the blue plate in the black circular housing . T is a lamp bulb in the middle of the sun w it faces the earth/moon (t is a spare light bulb for the sun). As the earth/moon complex rotate around the sun, the sun also rotates on its own axis so the light always projects forward on the earth/moon. As a result, you can use the gear drive and the light in a dark room and watch, e.g., phases of the moon or eclipses as the earth/moon travel around the sun. This thing was difficult to photograph. I tried show some of the gearing under the earth, and also the cam shaft. I've included four pictures taken inside, two outside, and one in the dark showing the shadow of the moon on the earth (a solar eclipse). Note how the moon and earth are half light and half dark (indicating e.g., day and night on the earth). These are not painted or decals on the earth or moon like you might see in an orrery without the lighting features found on this one. You can thus get some very nice shadow and lighting effects.This item is new and fully functional. I would not recommend this for young children, since it can be easily broken. Also a finger inserted in one of the open gears could lead to a nasty hurt. Please note that t are no schematics or written materials included. While this would make a great educational demonstration for astronomy or earth science, t are no curriculum materials.The distance from the earth to the end of the black box is about 20 inches (51 cm); from the base to the top of the sun about 10 ½ inches (27 cm). From the end of the earth to the moon is 4 inches (10 cm). Thus if you want to display this item (with the moon facing inward), you need a space that is 21 x 11 inches. But if you want to run the motor drive you need a much larger space, since the arm swings around the sun and the moon swings out from the earth. For this you need a circle with a diameter of about 4 feet (it is about 20 inches from the sun to earth and another 4 inches from the earth to moon; double this gives the diameter of the circle swept out by the orrery when it runs). The model is almost made completely of metal parts. The only plastic parts on this model are the sun and the gear box housing. The gear box housing can be detached when wanting to use it primarily as a display piece and can easily be reattached when using it as a functional piece is desired. The switch that illuminates the sun globe is separate from the gear box that rotates the orrery.This orrery'...
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