Sundials

Clocks have played a significant role in most of our lives. It manages schedules and helps you keep track of the passing days. But then we try and keep them at bay when we’re at getaway homes or simply lazing around in your garden . Then, how will you keep track of the day? Well, it’s simple, you can watch the skies. Is there a more practical approach where you get a little more accuracy? Yes – a well-crafted sundial might fit the bill. In this article, we’ll look at different sundials for a yard and check out a few tips on how to buy sundials online in UAE. So, read on!

Most of us know the sundials as the mere devices that were created in ancient times for accurately determining the time of the day. True, they’re one of the most reliable and oldest clocks that used to give accurate times. However, ever wondered how these fascinating devices worked? Or perhaps what kinds or types are out there? These clocks might have started out simple, but over the years, they have adopted a specific level of complexity. Even though their primary function entirely depends on the movement of the sun, you’ll find several types of sundials out there on the market. Let’s look at a few significant varieties that you can invest into spruce up your garden deco .

The different types of sundials for gardens

You’ll find two major types of sundials. However, you can break them down into further categories. The main categories of sundials include the Azimuth dials and altitude dials. Each one has different features and characteristics. For instance, Azimuth carries out the angular measurement in a spherical coordinate system. This angular direction or the measurement is basically the direction of a celestial object from the point of the observer. However, altitude sundials are different. It helps determine the time by using the sun’s altitude. And the altitude of the sun is basically its height above the horizon. Below we’ve compiled a few sundials that you can buy to spruce up your garden’s look and feel and, of course, keep track of the day and time.

The ancient sundial clock horizontal sundial

Characterised mainly by its flat-shaped plate, this sundial is one of the most common types out there. One of the prominent reasons why they’re so prevalent is that they give the time whenever the sun is shining. Besides, the dial has its dial plate lying horizontally flat on the ground. You’ll usually find them on pedestals in the garden. That’s why many also call them garden sundial. Typically, you’ll find three main parts in this model. They’re – the gnomon, the faceplate, and the hour markers. Each one has a specific role. For example, the vertical part of the dial – gnomon, casts a shadow to tell time. On the other hand, the hour markers show the time where the shadow lies. And finally, the faceplate is the area on the sundial where the shadow falls.

The vertical sundial

You might have seen them hanging on the walls of the churches and other similar buildings. These vertical sundials come with a shadow receiving plate that’s aligned vertically. Further, it has a gnomon aligned perfectly with the earth’s axis of rotation. The structure apart, one of the critical features of the product is that it isn’t equiangular. This means that the cast line of shadow on the dial’s face doesn’t fall uniformly. Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, all these features make them an ideal choice for mounting on the walls of numerous buildings such as town halls, church towers, and cupolas. One of the primary reasons for mounting them on walls is to make them visible from far away. By the way, you could also place them on the sides of a regular tower.

The equatorial sundial

Commonly known as the ‘equinoctial dial’, this version of sundial comes with a unique feature. It has a peculiar ‘planar surface’ that receives the shadow on it. This cast shadow is precisely perpendicular to the gnomon’s style. In fact, the reason why people call this version of the sundial the equatorial dial is because of its parallel to the equator of the celestial sphere. Besides, it is believed to be one of the straightforward dials to construct and visualise. All it comprises is a flat surface aligned to the celestial equator and a gnomon perpendicular to the same equator. The plate of this dial often tends to be flat. However, you could also find some circular ring models. But the plane of this ring always lies perpendicular to the gnomon.

The ring or armillary sundial

Unlike other sundials, this ring model makes use of light to determine the time instead of the shadows. The dial has a ring with hour lines marked at the insides of the ring. They consist of tiny holes through which sunlight falls on the ring. But remember, you need to turn on the ring for the light to fall on the correct dateline. This is the key factor in the proper functioning of the ring dials. When it comes to the size, earlier, most of these dials used to be very small. They usually had a diameter of less than 25mm. This tiny size made it very difficult for people to read and identify the time displayed correctly. But, soon enough, people knew that they required bigger models of this dial for efficient functioning. Therefore, the ring dials that came later are as big as 10cm in diameter.