In the 1600’s and 1700’s master clock makers often built elaborate machines showing the movement of the sun and plants. I have utterly forgotten the name of these devices and my google fu is failing. What were thay called?
I believe that would be an orrery.
Thanks to both of you!
One of my favorite obscure words…
Just saw this recently advertised on TV…
Another toy I can’t have but now want. Thanks. 
I have one. Unassembled, but now a complete kit. I always wanted one, and this was pretty good value. I’m actually putting off building it till I get some time to sit down and enjoy the pleasure. They also do a sun, earth, moon orbiter system - which looks just brilliant - and I will get that too. www.build-model-orbiter.com
I now know what I want for Xmas. 
I want the one from The Dark Crystal (including sound effects, please).
I was unable to find a pic or clip online. Anyone with stronger google-fu, please help.
But wait - why pay more! You - yes YOU! - can make your own Solar System model with everyday objects you can find in your home!
And it’s completely to scale!! (rly!) [sup]1[/sup]
And see Wikipedia on Solar System models
[sup]1[/sup] Enormous back yard sold separately.
I don’t understand, it says to pick your country, and the US isn’t listed, does that mean I can’t order one if I live in the USA?
http://usuarios.lycos.es/darkcrystal/images/locations/observatory01.jpg
http://orrery.tribe.net/photos/0a4e1b9e-7a93-4fa3-8cbe-de31da34eb10
I suspect not yet. These things are a mail order subscription thing. In general I hate this business model. Every week you get a magazine and a couple of parts. In a year you have a set of folders filled with the magazine and all the parts - or actually a finished model if you build it as the bits arrive. The kits come from England, where they were first released. They were released in Australia a few months later, and the orrery has just finished its delivery. They have only just announced the orbiter model here. It has been going in the UK for a while, but probably not yet finished. So since they have only just started with the orrery in the US, I would imagine that the orbiter is a year off. Such is life.
On the whole, the kits look good. Before I subscribed I did a bit of a look around for any competing products, and for the money these kits are really good. You can buy other orreries, and the like elsewhere, but at mind-numbing prices, or very poor quality. As something of decent quality and affordable, these kits fill a vacant niche.
I’ve been wanting an orrery for many years – even if I didn’t know what they were called. So the commercials intrigued me. How do you find the magazine? Worth the subscription price ($17.98/month)?
For a fascinating radio interiview about the antikythera, listen to the opening clip at Home | Quirks & Quarks with Bob McDonald | CBC Radio
This machine is a clock, calendar, planetary motion and eclipse predictor.
Also check out the Strassbourg clock.
The magazine is really a popularist astronomy guide to the planets. It is OK, but nothing more. I will probably give them to my niece. They are really directed at kids, or non-scientists with little background in astronomy. For someone who is interested, but never done any study about astronomy they are probably not bad. I studied astronomy at Uni, used to be a member of the local astronomical society, and used to subscribe to Sky and Telescope. I’m past what these magazines provided. So I just priced the orrery without taking the magazine into account. I could not find anything like it for the money anyway. So I’m pretty happy.
I notice they are also offering the entire thing for $350 US in one lump. That is a heck of a lot less than I paid (I didn’t have the option, we could only get them over a one year period.)
And now that you know what an orrery is, this is an armillary.
