eugene sargent's orrery

the solar system has been around in one way, shape, or form for over 4. 6 billion years when it is believed to have formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud that coalesced into regions of overdensity after a series of supernovae explosions. comprised of eight planets, three dwarf planets, over 166 moons and billions of little bits and pieces of rock and dust, the solar system is to the universe as my neighbourhood is to the planet. a small but vibrant little microcosm that feels comfortable.

representations of our solar system have necessarily reflected both our knowledge of its constituent parts, as well as our technological ability to represent those parts. as we extend our ability and inclination to explore our neighbours, we are discovering more and more and so need to refine our models. this timeline gives a fairly up-to-date measure of the major discoveries.

mechanical representations of the solar system or orreries, have been around for centuries. by their very nature and in consideration for what it is they are representing, it is accepted that they will not be to scale but will give a sense of the simpler descriptors being relative scale, colour, and in the more sophisticated models, their orbits.

here’s a lovely example from the french clockmakers raingo freres. dating from the early 1830’s, this device shows the motions of the earth and the moon around the sun. the spring driven pendulum clock drives the planetary model at the same rate as the heavens.
here’s another lovely example on display at the smithsonian. . .

and here’s a lovely boxed orrery dating back to 1794, that surely excited all who saw it . . .

more recent designs that i have come across seem to favour the artistry inherent in mechanical precision . . . one such example has just been made available by eugene sargent. sargent, an artist hailing from fayetteville, arkansas works with a variety of materials and allows the creative pure stuff to flow through his work such that a visit to his website will reveal cement cast sculptures such as “love attempts melting shells” . . .
this extraordinary ”shiny computer case” . . .
a variety of tables including this exquisite piece assembled from black walnut, steel, and glass . . .
an array of artworks
and all sorts of writing.

what i especially like though is his orrery. seen here in its entirety . . .
and here in detail . . .
the new owner was apparently so excited by their new orrery that they have posted this webpage detailing . . . its arrival.

if you would like to see this orrery in action, then you might like to watch this video, narrated by the artist himself in which he explains its workings as well as the process by which he created this beautiful machine . . .