![]() This domed night sky is actually set on a 23 degree angle behind the face as it has to rotate on that angle roughly once every 26,000 years as the earth precesses on its axis.įurther down inside the clock is also a "mundane dial" that shows normal 12hr clock time, this is mainly a debugging device to be sure it is accurate. The rete has indicators that show the range of night sky visible from upper and lower latitudes as well as some pointers that point to the celestial pole (currently very close the "North Star" or Polaris). (These horizon indicators move throughout the year and can be set for a given northern latitude as far south as LA and as far north as London.)Īt the center is the black domed display of the night sky overlaid by what is traditionally called a rete. The sun and moon are interrupted in the lower half of the dial by the horizon indicators that show sun and moon rise/set. The moon is also rotating at the same rate, and is shown in its current phase (divided into 32 steps) through an opening. Inside of that is the gold colored sun ring that shows the current position of the sun in the sky over the course of a roughly 24 hour solar day. This would read "02009" currently, and is made up of two rings, one showing the century or the "020" part, and the other adjacent outer ring with the "09" year part. Starting from the outside, on the right side of the dial viewed through a gold "window"indicator is the Gregorian year in 5 digits. The Long Now Foundation thanks them for their support. Almost all other Clock parts were machined and assembled at Rand Machine Works.Īll engineering for the Clock of the Long Now is done in Pro Engineer courtesy of PTC. The Escapement and movement were designed and built by David Munro and General Precision Corp. Engineering and part drawings were done by Elizabeth Woods. ![]() The Clock was primarily designed by Danny Hillis, additional design work and project management by Alexander Rose. The six dials represent the year, century, horizons, sun position, lunar phase, and the stars of the night sky. The Adders convert the timing generated from the pendulum, using their binary mechanical system, to changes in the Clock's dials. The display on the Clock is made of two elements the Serial Bit Adders and the dials. ![]() To correct from solar time to the absolute time of the pendulum there is a special Equation of Time Cam. The timing for the Clock is generated both by a torsional pendulum, with a one minute period, and by a Solar Synchronizer that re-calibrates the Clock to solar noon on any sunny day. Power for the Clock comes from the two helical weight drives on either side of the Clock. Following lead designer Danny Hillis, the team included project manager and designer Alexander Rose, mechanical engineer Liz Woods, horologist David Munro, and lead machinists Chris Rand and Erio Brown. This prototype began to tick on December 31, 01999 after an almost three year research and design effort. This first prototype of the 10,000 Year Clock is currently on loan to the Science Museum of London, and can be seen as the final piece in the “Making of the Modern World” exhibit.
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