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A brass astrolabe on lapis: a throne and ring at the top, a degree scale round the rim, a plate of altitude circles and tropics, the openwork star map with its offset ecliptic ring and flame-shaped star pointers, and a straight rule across the face. Tall shapes show the cord it hangs from.
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The Pattern Atlas

Astrolabe

No. 97 of 100 · free · 300 dpi

What you seeA brass astrolabe on lapis: a throne and ring at the top, a degree scale round the rim, a plate of altitude circles and tropics, the openwork star map with its offset ecliptic ring and flame-shaped star pointers, and a straight rule across the face. Tall shapes show the cord it hangs from.

What it meansThe astrolabe maps the sky onto a flat plate. Instruments made in the Islamic world were used to tell the time, find the height of the sun and stars and help with the times of prayer. The plate here is drawn for latitude 30 degrees north, and the pointers mark real bright stars.

Where it worksA rich, detailed piece for a study, a library or a stargazer's room.

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2:3 · 7200 × 10800 px4×6 · 8×12 · 12×18 · 16×24 · 20×30 · 24×36 in
3:4 · 5400 × 7200 px6×8 · 9×12 · 12×16 · 18×24 in
4:5 · 7200 × 9000 px4×5 · 8×10 · 16×20 · 24×30 in
11:14 · 3300 × 4200 px11×14 in
A-series · 7023 × 9933 pxA5 · A4 · A3 · A2 · A1

Everything is one ZIP: every shape and size, the phone wallpaper, the SVGs and a printing guide.

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More from The Pattern Atlas

All 100 prints
A ring of thirty small moons on ink, from the thin crescent of day one through full moon to the last crescent, with day thirty shown as a dashed circle. Inside, the twelve hijri months in Arabic around a gold crescent, with Ramadan in gold. In tall and wide shapes the months are listed beside the ring.The Lunar MonthNo. 98
Two star charts on ink with faint field stars. Orion and Taurus show Betelgeuse, Rigel, Saiph, the three belt stars, Aldebaran and the Pleiades; the Summer Triangle shows Vega, Altair, Deneb and Sadr. Each named star is labelled in English and in its Arabic original.Arabic Star NamesNo. 99
A pale stone horizontal sundial with north at the top: hour lines in blue, the curves traced by the shadow's tip at the winter and summer solstices and the straight equinox line, the noon line, the asr curve in red and a gold arrow pointing to Mecca. Tall shapes add a compass rose with the qibla needle.Qibla and SundialNo. 100
A full field of ten-fold girih pattern: cream strapwork weaving over and under through lapis ten-pointed stars, turquoise pentagons and terracotta and gold pieces, with the faint tile edges beneath. Below or beside it the five girih tiles are laid out as a key: decagon, pentagon, rhombus, elongated hexagon and bowtie.GirihNo. 1
A panel of zellige mosaic on the octagon-and-square grid: cream and lapis eight-pointed stars, turquoise kites, small terracotta and gold four-pointed stars and black corner pieces, every piece separated by an even line of pale grout, inside a black frame.ZelligeNo. 2
A panel of gold strapwork that weaves over and under itself through a twelve-fold pattern on a deep ink ground: terracotta twelve-pointed stars, lapis six-pointed stars and small turquoise pieces, the panel edges falling on the pattern's own lines of symmetry.TashbikNo. 3
The compass-and-straightedge construction of an eight-pointed star in fine gold on ink: a circle, its axes and diagonals, the arcs that find them, and two squares set at forty-five degrees, with the star filled in lapis.KhatamNo. 4
A chart of four circular details, each centred on a star rosette with six, eight, ten and twelve points, drawn in lapis line with the central stars in terracotta.Star FamiliesNo. 5

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