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Astrolabe Version 0.0001
Here is a windows program that will draw a classical astrolabe for any given latitude. The drawing may then be printed out and assembled into a working astrolabe. A word of warning, however. Because of the complexity of the drawing, a very good printer with lots of memory is required to produce a legible paper copy. If you find that the azimuths don't intersect the horizon or the tropic of Capricorn in the correct place, you need to find a better printer. I found that I was able to print this astrolabe on a Hewlett Packard DeskJet 2000, but the other printers in our department were woefully inadequate for the task. You will also need to set your printer to print TrueType fonts as graphics--otherwise the labels will be rotated the wrong way. Simply click "Options" when the print screen comes up and change the settings of your printer.
It is also possible to assemble the astrolabe onscreen and move the rule, alilade and rete independently. This is a feature I have included for the purpose of producing screen shots of a working astrolabe that are included in the pages of this web site.
Download the executable file below and give it a try. Remember, this is version 0.001, so there are still a few bugs to work out. The copyright notice automatically printed on the astrolabe only applies to commercial sale of the printed astrolabes. You may make and use as many copies as you like for personal or educational purposes.
Construction of the astrolabe
Assemble the astrolabe according to the following directions: Photocopy the front, back, rule and alilade of the astrolabe onto a piece of stiff cardstock or cut out these pieces and glue them to a piece of cardstock or cardboard. If you glue them, be sure to use a glue stick (e.g. glue specially designed for gluing photographs) that will not warp or cause bubbles to form. Now cut out the pieces of the astrolabe. The rete (i.e. the circle containing a map of the stars and constellations) should be photocopied onto a transparency sheet. Cut out the rete as well. It is helpful to laminate the pieces of the astrolabe (minus the rete) to add protection and additional stiffness. Again, cut the parts of the astrolabe out of the laminating sheets. Now you are ready to assemble the astrolabe. Use a drill press to cut out the central hole in the body, the rule and the alilade of the astrolabe. Be careful that the holes are exactly in the center. Use a hole punch to cut out the hole at the top of the astrolabe (i.e. the throne). Assemble the astrolabe with a nylon screw that snugly fits the central hole. The rete should lie beneath the rule in the front, and the alilade should lie on the back. You can construct a pair of vanes (sights) for the alilade using scraps of cardboard (although you may find that you can make observations without them.) Finally, hang the astrolabe by threading a paper clip through the hole at the top. Now it can be used as an observing instrument.