Monday, January 2, 2012

Nope, It's Not Modernist Mughal

It's one structure in what's probably most accurately described as an astronomer's playground. In this shot, the angled tower stands out, but if you look toward the bottom you can make out a curved, inverted buttress on each side. It's a giant sextant!

There's a few more of these dotted around the playground--one for each astrological sign, one for measuring the sun's movement through the sky, a few for charting stars and ephemeral phenomena. Royal astronomy in massive Lego format. I want one.

Of course, the astrolabe did all of the above without the woo, and if I point my iPhone at the heavens Sky Safari tells me everything I need to know, but this is just so cool.

PS: The Mayans were actually much more sophisticated at this sort of thing. No, the world doesn't end next December.

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