Antique Brass 11" Armillary Sphere Globe Astrolabe Zodiac Engraved Celestial Globe Wooden Base

Excellent quality. Spins perfectly. Sturdy real wood base. Great decorative piece.

A gift for my son; He picked it out and loves it

You are supposed to be able to adjust these things so that, for instance, you can align the equatorial ring with the horizon. If you don’t care about such things and just want it for looks then it is fine. But it seems like a lot to spend.

I like it, good size too..

So there are several problems in the construction of this armillary sphere, but you can turn it into a working instrument with a little elbow grease. The tropic rings are incorrectly placed, and the ecliptic ring has the equinoxes on the tropics and the solstices on the equator, problems which the manufacturer could easily fix. I printed out an azimuth ring (basically a 360° protractor), and I had to break several solder points holding the ecliptic in order to reposition it correctly, but now it's easy to calculate the azimuth of the sun at rise or set! (You can also work out how high the sun will be at local solar noon, too)You can see the sunrise results for summer solstice, fall equinox, and winter solstice for 35°N below. The answers are reasonably accurate, too.Before I made these modifications I left a scathing 1 star review. I'm still very disappointed that I had to disassemble and reassemble it correctly, but in the end it was worth the effort to have a functional instrument.

Well made, attractive and nice as an unusual desk ornament but otherwise completely useless. The inner sphere representing the earth rotates about its axis but no other parts move and are welded or locked into a fixed position. The base is made of handsome wood stained with a medium oak finish.

Very well made and a perfect addition to my nautical decor. Not sure how accurate it really is but I honestly don’t care. It looks great sitting on the shelf!