Zarok's astronomical clock

Zarok's astronomical clock
The clock in Zarok's planetarium.
Type	Astronomical instrument
Appears in	MediEvil (1998) TitleAV IntroAV The Entrance Hall MediEvil (2019) IntroAV The Entrance Hall

An astronomical clock was a clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information, such as the relative positions of the sun, moon, zodiacal constellations, and sometimes major planets.

History

14th century

There was an astronomical clock on the floor of the planetarium in Zarok the Sorcerer's castle.

Construction

Dial

The clock dial.

Rim

The rim of the dial was divided into and inscribed with 24 hours of time.

Celestial sphere

To an observer on the earth it may have appeared that the planet was at the centre of an immense sphere with the stars and other heavenly bodies located on its inside surface. Called the celestial sphere, it appeared to rotate around the earth.

The celestial sphere was mapped on the dial using a mathematical technique called stereographic projection. This technique allowed the 3-dimensional sphere to be represented on the 2-dimensional dial. The projection was specific to the local latitude.

Tropics and the equator

The circle on the outwards perimeter of the dial was the Tropic of Cancer, while the winter Tropic of Capricorn was represented by the innermost circle. Between them was another circle that represented the equator.

Zodiacal ring

The zodiacal ring, or the ecliptic ring, showed the annual path of the sun through the sky, as seen from the earth. A belt extending around 6 degrees north and south of the ecliptic was called the zodiac. The apparent motions of the sun and planets took place within the belt. The zodiac was divided into 30-degree intervals giving us the 12 months of the zodiacal calendar.

Behind the scenes

Inspiration

The design of Zarok's astronomical clock seems to be based on the Prague Orloj, one of the most famous astronomical clocks in the world.

Gallery

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  The astronomical clock in the 2019 remake.