Jovian Orrery
As a keen backyard astronomer, one of my favourite sights is Jupiter and its four large moons. You can see them even in binoculars, and every day they're in a different pattern - Io takes less than 2 days to go around, and Callisto 16.

I've also always liked Orreries, those mechanical models of the solar system which were popular in earlier times. So it was a natural project for me to build an orrery of Jupiter and its moons.

I bought a motor and gear kit to produce a set of useful ratios, then used custom-turned pulleys for the final reductions - since producing gears with non-integer numbers of teeth proved to be tricky...

The result was fantastic, with carefully painted models of Jupiter and the moons ll revolving at the correct distances and relative speeds. Unfortunately you'll have to take my word for that, since I temporarily only have one functional leg so can't get up to the attic where it is to take photos. Arse.
(moon monkey is busy making memories worth repressing, Thu 24 Nov 2011, 12:33, 7 replies)

By "keen backyard astronomer" do you mean
"gaylord wonderbum, king of all the cock fairies and total mincer"?

Cool project, but I'm finding it increasingly difficult to believe you're anything but a virgin.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Thu 24 Nov 2011, 12:54, closed)

I find it incredibly hard to reconcile the fact that the author
is also the man responsible for this www.b3ta.com/questions/amazingprojects/post1438074
( Pig Bodine., Thu 24 Nov 2011, 12:59, closed)

That's woo that is
I've fantasised from time to time about building an orrery, but have never got round to it.

What I can do though, is get of my arse and collimate my telescope BEFORE it gets dark so I'll have a chance of viewing Jupiter tonight. Ta for the inspiration.

Hope you leg gets better too.
( P-MONKE We're all fucked, Thu 24 Nov 2011, 12:58, closed)

My question is directed at all!
I'm asking for an equatorial mount scope for planets and some galaxy viewing for my birthday. I have no idea what to go for that may be in a suitable price range. Any suggestions for a budding amateur?

As to the orrery, poidh.
( Blind Meach Cautiously optimistic, Thu 24 Nov 2011, 13:03, closed)

This is cool
I can spend hours looking at this: dd.dynamicdiagrams.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/orrery_2006.swf
(username failed moderation, Thu 24 Nov 2011, 13:08, closed)

scale?
Are jupiters moons quite close then? I'm not being arsey, I just thought that for orreries to be to scale they had to have teeny tiny planets or be huge overall due to the large distances between bodies?

Or is that just the full solar system?
(Greencloud Wanted to go fishing on, Thu 24 Nov 2011, 13:24, closed)

I think Scale has to
be ignored.

If you did the Earth and the moon, the earth would be a football, and the moon 10 feet from it.
(username failed moderation, Thu 24 Nov 2011, 13:44, closed)