|
Sion Astronomical Clock
The Sion astronomical clock is an astronomical clock at the town hall of Sion in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. The clock was first installed in 1667–68; the present mechanism dates from 1902. The clock has five dials: on the two lateral sides of the clock tower, there are 12-hour dials. The principal dial on the front of the tower indicates, from the outer to the inner ring: * the hours, on a chapter ring numbered I to XII twice, indicated by a double-ended fleur-de-lys hand; * the signs of the zodiac; * the months; * the minutes, indicated by an arrow hand. The position of the Sun in the zodiac and the month are both indicated by a hand with a golden sun. The other end of this hand, with a star, indicates the constellation which passes through the meridian at Sion in the middle of the night. The two smaller dials underneath the principal dial indicate the day of the week, represented by an illustration of its classical deity, and the lunar phase Concerning the lunar m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astronomical Clock
An astronomical clock, horologium, or orloj is 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. Definition The term is loosely used to refer to any clock that shows, in addition to the time of day, astronomical information. This could include the location of the Sun and Moon in the sky, the age and Lunar phases, the position of the Sun on the ecliptic and the current zodiac sign, the sidereal time, and other astronomical data such as the Moon's nodes (for indicating eclipses) or a rotating star map. The term should not be confused with ''astronomical regulator'', a high precision but otherwise ordinary pendulum clock used in observatories. Astronomical clocks usually represent the Solar System using the geocentric model. The center of the dial is often marked with a disc or sphere representing the Earth, located at the center of the Solar Sy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sion, Switzerland
, neighboring_municipalities= Ayent, Conthey, Grimisuat, Grône, Les Agettes, Nax, Nendaz, Saint-Léonard, Salins, Savièse, Vernamiège, Vex , twintowns = Sion (; german: Sitten ; it, Seduno; la, Sedunum) is a Swiss town, a municipality, and the capital of the canton of Valais and of the district of Sion. it had a population of (known as ''Sédunois(es)''). On 17 January 1968, the former municipality of Bramois merged into the municipality of Sion.Nomenklaturen – Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz accessed 9 February 2013 On 1 January 2013, the former municipality of Salins merged into the municipality of S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Valais
Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzerland, Sion. The flag of the canton is made of thirteen stars representing the districts, on a white-red background. Valais is situated in the southwestern part of Switzerland, the country. It borders the cantons of Canton of Vaud, Vaud and Canton of Bern, Bern to the north, the cantons of Canton of Uri, Uri and Ticino to the east, as well as Italy to the south and France to the west. It is one of the three large southern Alps, Alpine cantons, along with Ticino and the Grisons, which encompass a vast diversity of ecosystems. It is a bilingual canton, French language, French and German language, German ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel, St. Gallen a.o.). , coordinates = , largest_city = Zürich , official_languages = , englishmotto = "One for all, all for one" , religion_year = 2020 , religion_ref = , religion = , demonym = , german: Schweizer/Schweizerin, french: Suisse/Suissesse, it, svizzero/svizzera or , rm, Svizzer/Svizra , government_type = Federalism, Federal assembly-independent Directorial system, directorial republic with elements of a direct democracy , leader_title1 = Federal Council (Switzerland), Federal Council , leader_name1 = , leader_title2 = , leader_name2 = Walter Thurnherr , legislature = Fe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Meridian (astronomy)
In astronomy, the meridian is the great circle passing through the celestial poles, as well as the zenith and nadir of an observer's location. Consequently, it contains also the north and south points on the horizon, and it is perpendicular to the celestial equator and horizon. Meridians, celestial and geographical, are determined by the pencil of planes passing through the Earth's rotation axis. For a location ''not'' at a geographical pole, there is a unique meridian plane in this axial-pencil through that location. The intersection of this plane with Earth's surface is the '' geographical meridian'', and the intersection of the plane with the celestial sphere is the celestial meridian for that location and time. There are several ways to divide the meridian into semicircles. In the horizontal coordinate system, the observer's meridian is divided into halves terminated by the horizon's north and south points. The observer's upper meridian passes through the zenith while the l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lunar Phase
Concerning the lunar month of ~29.53 days as viewed from Earth, the lunar phase or Moon phase is the shape of the Moon's directly sunlit portion, which can be expressed quantitatively using areas or angles, or described qualitatively using the terminology of the 4 major phases: new moon, first quarter, full moon, last quarter and 4 minor phases: waxing crescent, waxing gibbous, waning gibbous, and waning crescent. The lunar phases gradually change over a synodic month (~29.53 days) as the Moon's orbital positions around Earth and Earth around the Sun shift. The visible side of the Moon is variously sunlit, depending on the position of the Moon in its orbit. Thus, this face's sunlit portion can vary from 0% (at new moon) to 100% (at full moon). Each of the 4 major lunar phases (see below) is ~7.4 days, with +/− 19 hours in variation (6.58–8.24 days) due to the elliptical shape of the Moon's orbit. Phases of the Moon There are four ''principal'' (primary/major) lunar phase ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Clock Towers In Switzerland
A clock or a timepiece is a device used to measure and indicate time. The clock is one of the oldest human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month and the year. Devices operating on several physical processes have been used over the millennia. Some predecessors to the modern clock may be considered as "clocks" that are based on movement in nature: A sundial shows the time by displaying the position of a shadow on a flat surface. There is a range of duration timers, a well-known example being the hourglass. Water clocks, along with the sundials, are possibly the oldest time-measuring instruments. A major advance occurred with the invention of the verge escapement, which made possible the first mechanical clocks around 1300 in Europe, which kept time with oscillating timekeepers like balance wheels., pp. 103–104., p. 31. Traditionally, in horology, the term ''clock'' was used for a st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Astronomical Clocks In Switzerland
Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, galaxies, and comets. Relevant phenomena include supernova explosions, gamma ray bursts, quasars, blazars, pulsars, and cosmic microwave background radiation. More generally, astronomy studies everything that originates beyond Earth's atmosphere. Cosmology is a branch of astronomy that studies the universe as a whole. Astronomy is one of the oldest natural sciences. The early civilizations in recorded history made methodical observations of the night sky. These include the Babylonians, Greeks, Indians, Egyptians, Chinese, Maya, and many ancient indigenous peoples of the Americas. In the past, astronomy included disciplines as diverse as astrometry, celestial navigation, observational astronomy, and the making of calendars. Nowadays, p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
