Article ID: CBB666083983

The torquetum (or turketum): Was it an observing instrument? (2022)

unapi

The torquetum was a complex astronomical instrument whose construction is known thanks to certain descriptions, iconography and few extant artefacts. It was used in pre-telescopic astronomy from at least the 13th century. However, the usefulness of the torquetum as an observing instrument remains unknown. It is my intention to introduce a preliminary analysis of the merits and limitations of the torquetum in determining the coordinates of celestial bodies. For this purpose I shall refer to (1) written sources that contain descriptions of the construction of the instrument and its use; (2) the results of an examination of the torquetum constructed by Hans Dorn of Vienna (c.1487) and conserved in the Jagiellonian University Museum in Cracow; (3) elements of a theory of the instrument, which allow us to trace down instrumental errors, both systematic and accidental; (4) the only substantial and extant set of observations made with the torquetum, that is, a catalogue of 58 stars, compiled in Kassel in the years 1560–63.

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Authors & Contributors
Dekker, Elly
Meccanico, Leonzio
Recio, Gonzalo Luis
Panda, Sudhira
Bartolini, Simone
Guidetti, Fabio
Concepts
Celestial maps; star catalogs
Astronomy
Celestial mechanics
Instruments, astronomical
Stars; stellar astronomy
Globes, celestial
Time Periods
Medieval
16th century
Ancient
17th century
Renaissance
19th century
Places
Greece
China
India
Cape of Good Hope (South Africa)
Florence (Italy)
South Africa
Institutions
Whipple Museum of the History of Science (Cambridge, Eng.)
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