WOLFRAM|DEMONSTRATIONS PROJECT

Antikythera Mechanism

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date control
crank handle
Sun 6 May 2012 02:35:00
year
2012
month
9
day
25
hour
18
Go to date
mechanisms to display
Moon gears
Saros gears
Exeligmos gears
Metonic gears
Callippic/Olympiad gears
Sun gears
show labels
texture calendar discs
hide mechanism box
The Antikythera mechanism is a 2000-year-old computer for determining the positions of celestial bodies and predicting important events such as eclipses and the dates of the Olympic games. This Demonstration includes only the known mechanism for the Sun and Moon. The additional components needed to display planetary motions are largely unknown. Turning the handle causes a sequence of interlocking gears to rotate, ultimately moving the Sun and Moon pointers around the calendar disc. The phase of the Moon is indicated by a semi-silvered ball, which undergoes one revolution per synodic month. Finally, the back plate features spiral tracks to indicate the date in the Metonic and Saros cycles.
(To zoom: for Windows, use Control+mouse; for Mac OS X, use Command+mouse.)