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The Great Contribution of Islamic Astronomers

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Bianca
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« Reply #90 on: October 13, 2008, 02:18:11 pm »










                                                          Astronomical clocks






The Muslims constructed a variety of highly accurate astronomical clocks for use in their observatories.




Water-powered astronomical clocks



Al-Jazari invented monumental water-powered astronomical clocks which displayed moving models of the Sun, Moon, and stars.

His largest astronomical clock displayed the zodiac and the solar and lunar orbits.

Another innovative feature of the clock was a pointer which traveled across the top of a gateway and caused automatic doors to open every hour.






Spring-powered astronomical clock



Taqi al-Din invented the first astronomical clock to be powered by springs, first described in his
'The Brightest Stars for the Construction of Mechanical Clocks' (1556-1559).






Mechanical alarm clock



Taqi al-Din invented the first mechanical alarm clock, which he described in 'The Brightest Stars for
the Construction of Mechanical Clocks' (Al-Kawākib al-durriyya fī wadh' al-bankāmat al-dawriyya) in 1559.

His alarm clock was capable of sounding at a specified time, which was achieved by means of placing
a peg on the dial wheel to when one wants the alarm heard and by producing an automated ringing device at the specified time.






Mechanical observational clock



Taqi al-Din invented the "observational clock", which he described as "a mechanical clock with three dials which show the hours, the minutes, and the seconds."

This was the first clock to measure time in seconds, and he used it for astronomical purposes, specifically for measuring the right ascension of the stars.

This is considered one of the most important innovations in 16th-century practical astronomy, as previous clocks were not accurate enough to be used for astronomical purposes.

He further improved the observational clock, as described in his Sidrat al-muntaha, using only one
dial to represent the hours, minutes and seconds. He describes this observational clock as



"a mechanical clock with a dial showing the hours, minutes and seconds and we divided every minute

into five seconds."
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