The Antikythera Mechanism (Jan. 9 2011)
Looking at this one might ask what does this mechanism have to do with astronomy? In fact, it was found at the bottom of the sea within an ancient Greek ship. The apparent complexity of this mechanism has prompted decades of study, although some of its functions were still unknown. Recent X-ray scans of the device have now revealed the purpose of the Antikythera mechanism, and discovered several surprising functions. The Antikythera mechanism ascertains to be a mechanical computer of a level of accuracy thought impossible in 80 BC, when the ship that carried it sunk. Such sophisticated technology was not thought to be developed by humanity for another thousand years. Its wheels and gears create a portable orrery of the sky that predicted star and planet locations as well as lunar and solar eclipses in a heliocentric model. The mechanism, shown above, is thirty-three centimeters high so it is similar to the size of a text book.
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