Astronomical instruments include:

  • Alidade – Device that allows one to sight a distant object
  • Armillary sphere – Model of objects in the sky consisting of a framework of rings
  • Astrarium – Timepiece and astronomical prediction device
  • Astrolabe – Astronomical instrument
  • Astronomical clock – Clock with special mechanisms and dials to display astronomical information
  • the Antikythera mechanism, an astronomical clock
  • Antikythera mechanism – Ancient analogue astronomical computer
  • Blink comparator – Astronomical instrument used to measure movements or variations in the brightness of celestial objects
  • Bolometer – Device for measuring incident electromagnetic radiation
  • Canterbury Astrolabe Quadrant – astrolabe in the British Museum
  • Celatone – Navigational aid reliant on tracking Jupiter's moons in the sky
  • Celestial sphere – Imaginary sphere of arbitrarily large radius, concentric with the observer
  • Charge-coupled device – Device for the movement of electrical charge
  • Computers – Automatic general-purpose device for performing arithmetic or logical operations
  • CMOS sensor – Image sensor, consisting of an integrated circuit
  • Coronagraph – Telescopic attachment designed to block out the direct light from a star
  • Cosmolabe – Ancient astronomical instrument
  • Dioptra – Classical surveying instrument from the 3rd century BCE
  • Equatorial ring – Instrument to determine the moment of the equinoxes
  • Equatorium – Astronomical calculating instrument
  • Gnomon – Part of a sundial that casts a shadow
  • Inclinometer – Instrument used to measure the inclination of a surface relative to local gravity
  • Interferometer – Measurement method using interference of waves
  • Kamal – Celestial navigation device that determines latitude
  • Meridian circle – Astronomical instrument for timing of the passage of stars
  • Microchannel plate detector – Detection single parties and photons
  • Mural instrument – Type of angle measuring device
  • Nebra sky disk – Bronze artefact, c. 1600 BCE, found in Nebra, Germany
  • Nocturnal – instrument used to determine the local time based on the relative positions of two or more stars in the night sky
  • Octant – Measuring instrument used primarily in navigation; type of reflecting instrument
  • Optical spectrometer, also known as Spectrograph – Instrument to measure the properties of visible light
  • Orrery – Mechanical model of the solar system
  • Photographic plate – Target medium in photography
  • Photometer – Instrument to measure light intensity
  • Planisphere – Class of star chart
  • Prague astronomical clock – Medieval astronomical clock on the Old Town Hall building in Prague, Czech Republic
  • Quadrant – Navigation instrument
  • Reticle – Aim markings in optical devices, e.g. crosshairs
  • Radio plate
  • Retroreflector – Device to reflect radiation back to its source
  • Scaphe – Sundial said to have been invented by Aristarchus
  • Sextant – Measuring instrument in Astronomy
  • Starshade – Proposed occulter
  • Space telescope – Instrument in space to study astronomical objects
  • Spectrometers – Used to measure spectral components of light
  • Sundial – Device that tells the time of day by the apparent position of the Sun in the sky
  • Telescope – Instrument that makes distant objects appear magnified
  • Torquetum – Medieval astronomical instrument
  • Triquetrum – Ancient astronomical instrument
  • Zenith telescope – Type of telescope that points straight up

See also

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