You should maybe consider a "program by Hugo". Far more complications, and about 1/100th the weight - no heavier than a CD - so you could easily take it with you anywhere you go.

Not sure that anyone is selling them by the complication yet, though.

Hugo

If you can, I think we may be able to work out a deal.

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I've wanted a sidereal watch for some time, actually.

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simon

This is a fascinating thread. The guy bought his own custom quartz crystals to modify a standard (well, 24-hour rotation but otherwise standard) quartz movement to sidereal time...

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I started to write down what I'd do with a sidereal clock, but it got a bit complex. Suffice it to say I need:

1) The figures on the 24 hour dial to be printed going round anticlockwise, not clockwise

2) The dial to rotate clockwise (no hands needed, though a movable pointer would be useful)

3) To mount it on a plane with inclination = latitude, and its axis of rotation pointing at the north pole of the ecliptic

4) To set it going when a line from the centre to 00:00 on the dial is pointing at the First Point of Aries in the sky.

Given the Right Ascension of any object, I'd be able to check where that position on the dial happened to be at that instant and know that the object was in that direction.

Then when Kris asks me where Orion is, I'd be able to point appropriately - day or night, any time of year.

Alternatively, I could just point my scope at Orion and leave the equatorial drive running 23h56m4s a day... bit bulky though.
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simon

That's the sound of astronomical info like that going over my head.

I love the idea of knowing what's going on up there, and I admire anyone who does, but I've not the dedication to make myself understand it properly.

I just about understand what's going on with eclipses.

Other than that, I'm very happy to leave it to you and when complex stuff comes up, marvel appropriately.

So does Kris ask you where Orion is a lot then? :)

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So does Kris ask you where Orion is a lot then? :)

Yes :-) and a clock as described would save me working it out from scratch every time.

I'm pretty much OK for the next few hundred years or so though, until precession moves the summer solstice sun away from being directly above Orion.

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simon

Tsk ;-)

"Three years ago I couldn't even spell engineer, and now I are one"

I've decided that one of the reasons I'm so interested in neolithic and bronze age stuff is that that was the last time people who knew where stuff was and how the skies worked got the respect they deserved :-) It all started to go downhill when they began nailing 'em to trees.

And the Lord said, "Listen, I'm telling you guys, it's a new precessional age. Forget all those bulls and rams - it's fishes from now on..."

Now, where's my pointy hat with all those moon phases and constellations on it got to...
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simon