One of the main attractions in
York Minster, located in the historic city of York (North England) is the
Astronomical Clock. This is a memorial to the men of the Royal Air Forces of
the Commonwealth and their Allies who, operating from bases in Yorkshire, Durham
and Northumberland, gave their lives during World War II.
The edge of the large convex disc
represents the horizon as seen from an aircraft directly over York and flying
South. A plan of the Minster and the City Walls is picked out in gold in the centre.
The clock’s ‘Sun’, represented by a gold disc, rises and sets on the horizon at
the actual times of sunrise and sunset throughout the year. It crosses the
vertical, South pointing wire at noon. From day to day its path along the
silver band representing the ecliptic varies so that it rises higher in the
summer than in the winter. The dials at the bottom show, on the right,
Greenwich Mean Time and on the left, the sidereal or star time. The dial on the
other side of the clock shows the North Circumpolar Stars visible from the
latitude of York, circling round the Pole Star.
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