Astrolabe
Le Bardo, Tunis, Tunisia
Musée national du Bardo
Late 18th century
Brass
Ep. 1,2 cm, Ø 24 cm
Tunis
This portable astrolabe consists of a suspension device with a 18cm diameter disk, divided up into degrees, and a handle. Two moving parts are used for measurements: the spider on the front, and the alidade (a flat ruler revolving round a point) on the back. The astrolabe remained in use as the primary tool for navigation until the 18th century. However, it was also used as an astronomical tool, to measure the height of stars from the horizon, or the angle separating one star from another.
Saloua Khadhar Zangar "Astrolabe" in "Sharing History", Museum With No Frontiers, 2024. https://sharinghistory.museumwnf.org/database_item.php?id=object;AWE;tn;12;en
Prepared by: Saloua Khadhar Zangar
Translation by: Flaminia Baldwin
MWNF Working Number: TN 012
Related Content
On display in
MWNF Galleries
Scientific objectsDownload
As PDF (including images) As Word (text only)