The Armillary Sphere (Ming Dynasty) Editorial Image

The armillary sphere (Chinese:浑天仪)is an instrument used to determine the position of celestial bodies. This exhibit is an armillary sphere made in Ming Dynasty.The body of the instrument includes three layers. The outer layer is calledthe component of the six cardinal points, which can find out the time,latitude and longitude,the intermediate layer is called the three arrangers of time,which can find out orbits of the sun and moon, position of a constellation and a solar term. The inner layer is called the component of the four displacements,which is equipped with a telescope for the observation of celestial bodies and can figure out the position of each celestial body and calculate the distance between them.The armillary sphere is famous in the world for its scientific and reasonable structure,observatin precision and exquisite shape.