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The Antikythera mechanism ( , ) These scans suggest that the mechanism had 37 meshing bronze gears enabling it to follow the movements of the Moon and the Sun through the zodiac, to predict eclipses and to model the irregular orbit of the Moon, where the Moon's velocity is higher in its perigee than in its apogee. This motion was studied in the 2nd century BC by astronomer Hipparchus of Rhodes, and he may have been consulted in the machine's construction. It went unnoticed for two years, while museum staff worked on piecing together more obvious treasures, such as the statues. suggested the concept for the mechanism may have originated in the colonies of Corinth, since they identified the calendar on the Metonic Spiral as coming from Corinth, or one of its colonies in northwest Greece or Sicily.

! Function of the gear/pointer

! Length of time for a full circular revolution

! Mechanism formula

! Computed interval

! Gear direction

|-

! x

| Year gear

| 1 tropical year

| 1 (by definition)

| 1 year (presumed)

| clockwise

|-

! b

| The Moon's orbit

| 1 sidereal month (27.321661 days)

| Time(b) = Time(x) * (c1/b2) * (d1/c2) * (e2/d2) * (k1/e5) * (e6/k2) * (b3/e1)

| 27.321 days

| clockwise

|-

! r

| Lunar phase display

| 1 synodic month (29.530589 days)

| Time(r) = 1 / (1 / Time(b2: mean sun or sun3: true sun)) – (1 / Time(b)))

| 29.530 days

|-

! o*

| Games dial pointer

| 4 years (5551.8 days)

| Time(o) = Time(n) * (o1/n2)

| 4.00 years

| clockwise

|-

! q*

| Callippic pointer

| 27758.8 days

| Time(q) = Time(n) * (p1/n3) * (q1/p2)

| 27758 days

| anticlockwise

|-

! g*

| Saros cycle

| Saros time / 4 turns = 1646.33 days

| Time(g) = Time(e) * (f1/e4) * (g1/f2)

| 1646.3 days

| anticlockwise

|-

! mer2*

| Mercury pointer

| 115.88 days (synodic period)

| Time(mer2) = Time(x) * (mer2/mer1)

| 115.89 days

Accuracy

Investigations by Freeth and Jones reveal their simulated mechanism is inaccurate. The Mars pointer is up to 38° wrong in some instances (these inaccuracies occur at the nodal points of Mars' retrograde motion, and the error recedes at other locations in the orbit). This is not due to inaccuracies in gearing ratios in the mechanism, but inadequacies in the Greek theory of planetary movements. The accuracy could not have been improved until when Ptolemy published his Almagest (particularly by adding the concept of the equant to his theory), then much later by the introduction of Kepler's laws of planetary motion in 1609 and 1619.

Eastern Mediterranean and others

thumb|Su Song's Clock Tower

This evidence that the Antikythera mechanism was not unique adds support to the idea that there was an ancient Greek tradition of complex mechanical technology that was later, at least in part, transmitted to the Byzantine and Islamic worlds, where mechanical devices which were complex, albeit simpler than the Antikythera mechanism, were built during the Middle Ages. at the Musée des Arts et Métiers in Paris and at the Western Australian Museum.

The National Geographic documentary series Naked Science dedicated an episode to the Antikythera Mechanism entitled "Star Clock BC" that aired on 20 January 2011.

On 8 February 2024, a 10X scale replica of the mechanism was built, installed, and inaugurated at the University of Sonora in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico.

The band also partnered with Finnish watch manufacturer POOK Watches to release a limited edition watch, with elements referencing the Antikythera Mechanism.

See also

References

</references>

Further reading

  • Hublot.
  • [https://arxiv.org/pdf/2407.15858] Voulgaris, Aristeidis, et al., "Is there something missing from the Antikythera Mechanism? Was it a mechanical Planetarium, positioner? or a Luni solar Time calculator device? Reconstructing the lost parts of b1 gear and its Cover Disc", arXiv preprint arXiv:2407.15858, 2024
  • New Antikythera mechanism analysis challenges century-old assumption - Arstechnica - Jennifer Ouellette - 7/10/2024
  • YAAS – A 3D interactive virtual reality simulator in VRML
  • Metapage with links December 2021. at antikythera.org
  • Bronze replica 3D engineering manufacturing drawings and operating manual