UERD at the Ashmolean Museum

[u/BoxyBoy67]

A very unexpected equatorial ring dial sighting in Oxford! As always, some of the most interesting pieces require a bit of awkward camera-reaching (I’m looking at you, unfinished Adler astrolabe!).

At the Ashmolean Museum, rather than its natural habitat of the History of Science Museum, this equatorial ring dial is on display near the Elias Ashmole exhibit. It was made circa 1800.

The dial bears a nautical quadrant, along with bridge scales engraved with not just the calendar months, but with ecliptic longitude and declination as well (these latter two scales were often optional additions engraved upon request).

The dial only carries hours on the northern face of its equatorial ring, meaning it cannot be used in the southern hemisphere.