Ornate Equatorial Sundial Paper Model

This fully functional ornate sundial paper model was created by Secanda. Specifically, this is an "equatorial sundial" which the designer explains as:

"...its dial is parallel to the plane of the equator and its axis is parallel to the axis of rotation of the earth. It is therefore a kind of flat model of the terrestrial globe."

Secanda goes on to explain that a equatorial sundial is universal as it will work anywhere on the planet with no other modification than adjustments to the orientation and inclination of the disc. The printable PDF template for the model along with instructions in English and French may be downloaded here.

Other Astronomy Related Paper Models:

Polyhedron Skyglobe
Planets of the Solar System
Mars Topographic Globe
Printable Sundial Collection

Printable Sundial Collection

 I have always been fascinated by how many different types of sundials there are. The educational website, Astronomy for Thinkers, offers printable templates of five different types of sundials that have been used over the ages. Pictured above are a cube sundial, an equatorial sundial, a hemispherical sundial, and a horizontal sundial. Also available, but not pictured, is a butterfly sundial. Each sundial may be customized for your particular latitude on the planet. The earliest sundials were thought to have been created around 1500 BC.

Previous Astronomy Papercraft:

Polyhedron Skyglobe
Glue-less Earth Puzzle
Planets of the Solar System
Renaissance Crucifix Sundial
Mars Topographic Globe

NASA Papercraft Moon

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo Program, NASA has released a educational paper model of the Earth's Moon for children to build. The moon comes with a 2D cutout of an astronaut on top. Another feature of the model is it may be opened to reveal an image of an astronaut's footprint on the lunar surface. The printable PDF template for the papercraft may be downloaded here. The Apollo Program landed a dozen Americans on the Moon between July 1969 and December 1972.

Other Astronomy Papercraft:

Polyhedron Skyglobe

Dodecahedron Globe Puzzle

Planets of the Solar System

Mars Topographic Globe

Glue-less Heart Earth

Papercraft Antique Globe Christmas Ornaments

Not your typical ornaments, Paperpino miniaturized 200 year old globe gores by Italian globe maker Giovanni Maria Cassini to create ornate ball decorations for your Christmas tree. In the foreground is a 1792 globe of the celestial sphere showing star constellations. In the background is Cassini's 1790 globe of the Earth. Each of the balls is about 6" (15 cm) in diameter. The templates for the ornaments are located here.

Papercraft Mars Topographic Globe

The landing of NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars this month got me hankering to build a Mars papercraft. Here's my favorite model: a papercraft Mars topographic globe by Eotvos Lorand University Cosmic Materials Space Research Group in Budapest. There's lots to like about this model. First, it is available in a high resolution template that clearly shows the surface features of Mars. Second, there is extensive labeling of the surface features. Finally, the resting places of the first ten landers to make it to the surface of Mars are pinpointed, from the Soviet Mars 2 lander (1971) to NASA's Phoenix lander (2008). The blue tag in the image above is the location of the Spirit rover (2004) (Though not labeled, Curiosity's location is at the far left of the globe just below the equator). The template for the Mars globe was intended to be printed and wrapped around a sphere, but if you have decent papercrafting skills the creation of a hollow papercraft globe should be an easy task. The JPG globe gore template may be downloaded here.

Renaissance Crucifix Sundial Card Model

In the archives of the Germanic Museum in Nuremberg there is a Renaissance wood engraving that is thought to be the earliest paper model template ever created. The engraving was produced around 1529 by Georg Hartmann (1489 - 1564), a mathematician and designer of scientific instruments. When the template in the engraving is assembled it becomes a crucifix that also ingeniously functions as a sundial (the shadow in the photo on the right is at 11 o'clock).

There are numerous images on the crucifix. On the front is an engraving of the crucifixion of Christ that is very similar to a 1489 woodcut print by artist Albert Durer (1471 - 1528). Some sources suggest that Hartmann was a pupil of Durer's, which might explain the similarity. On the back of the crucifix is a bronze serpent on a cross and an image of Moses in reference to a miracle performed by Moses in Numbers 21:8-9. In the Gospel of John, Jesus Christ refers to Moses' miracle as a symbolic foreshadowing of his own crucifixion (John 3:14-15) thus explaining Hartmann's inclusion of the bronze serpent on the crucifix.

As far as I know there are no free papercraft templates of the crucifix, but reproductions may be purchased from several different European sources. One such source is here. Also on the same web page is a photo of the cross unfolded if you are curious.

Planets of the Solar System Papercraft

The Westphalian Public Observatory and Planetarium in Recklinghausen, Germany is offering free downloads of Solar System paper models on their website. In addition to a model of the Sun, downloads include the planets Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Included with the Earth model is a model of Earth's Moon and included with the Jupiter model are models of the largest of Jupiter's moons, Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto. Downloads of the PDF templates for these and other astronomical papercraft may be found here.

Astronomy Papercraft: Heart Globe Earth

Here's another fascinating glue-less Earth globe papercraft from Canadian designer David Swart. Starting with the geometric form of a Pentagonal Hexecontahedron, David added slotted tabs in a way that makes each of the globe's faces heart shaped. A template of the globe is available here. David's previous slide together creation was a globe puzzle.

Japanese Telescope Paper Models

These detailed papercraft telescopes were designed and built by staff at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan. The models in the front row are radio telescopes. In the second row are infrared and optical telescope models. Templates for each of these along with a couple of satellite templates are available at the NAOJ's ALMA website.

Astronomy Papercraft - Globe Puzzle

This fascinating globe puzzle has been on my "to do" list for a long time, but I can't seem to find the time to build it. The puzzle is made out of 60 rectangular pieces which are slotted together and held in place with a small amount of tape to form a dodecahedron globe. The creator of the puzzle has a template and easy to follow instructions posted here. Using the same construction technique, the author has also created a "panorama sculpture" in which a panoramic photograph has been mapped onto the globe instead of an image of the Earth. The results are very cool. The panorama sculpture can be seen here.

Astronomy Paper Models #2

I came across an interesting website where you can upload any image and it will output a template of the image mapped onto an icosahedron. Above are photographs of two models I created using the website. For the first model I input a satellite image of the entire Earth. For the second I input an image of an 18th century European map of the celestial sphere which shows artistic representations of the constellations. Each model is about 3" across and they were each constructed with cardstock and double sided tape. To try it yourself, go to http://www.hirax.net/map/.

UPDATE 5/14/19: Sorry. After 11 years, this feature of the Hirax website is no longer available. :(

Astronomy Paper Models #1

Here are three astronomy papercraft I built. Each one was made with heavyweight typing paper and double sided tape. The larger one in the middle was my first attempt at paper modeling. From left to right they are:

• Moon Icosahedron by Calvin J. Hamilton, USA, 1998
  Model can be found here.
• Polyhedron Skyglobe by Richard Powell, Great Britain, 1998
  Model can be found here.
• Earth Rhombicuboctahedron by Carlos A. Furuti, Brazil, 2004
  Model can be found here.

The hardest part of each of these models was getting the final side taped in place without crushing the model.