New Sundial Glossary of Terms
Photo of Conical Sundial by its maker, Henrik Hollander
Do you wonder what a Bifilar Sundial is? Or a Campbell-Stokes Recorder? Maybe you are studying facts about astrolabes and come across the word almucantar. Are they rings in the sky?
Our perhaps you want to make a vertical dial and need the trigonometric formula to draw the hour lines and have forgotten where to look. All of these questions can be answered plus internet and NASS Compendium references. This new NASS Glossary of Sundial Terms is alphabetically listed with quick first letter indexing to take you from Abscissa to Zodiac. It has many functional drawings such as the analemmma of Vitruvius or the sky coordinates of altitude and azimuth to latitude, declination and right ascension. This new expanded version is due to the efforts of Evan Boxer-Cook and Mark Montgomery.
Want to use the glossary? Simply download the attached PDF file.
NASS_Sundial_Glossary_2026.pdf33.93 MB
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Sundials on the Web
NASS Link Page Updated 23 April 2024
WEBSITE TRANSLATION SERVICE
- Google Translation Service
- Download Chrome Web Browser Integrated translation services in the browser
SUNDIAL SOCIETIES
- The Analemma Society
- AARS Asociación de Amigos de los Relojes de Sol (Spanish Friends of Sundials Association)
- How to join your national sundial society
- Zonnewijzerkring Vlaanderen (Sundial Society of Flanders, Belgium)
- De Zonnewijzerking (Sundial Society of the Netherlands)
- Sundial Society-Birkenau-Germany
- The British Sundial Society
- QuadrantiSolari - Links to Italia Societies
- Catalonia Sundial Society
- Orologi Solari Sundial Society of Italy
- The Japanese Sundial Society
- Deutche Gesellshaft fur Chronometrie
- La Commission des Cadrans solaires du Québec
- Commission des Cadrans Solaires de la Société Astronomique de France
- Cadrans Solaires Magazine (Sundials for All Magazine)
LINKS AND MORE LINKS
- Sundial Atlas - World List of Sundials
- Danial Roth’s Sundial Links – comprehensive
- The Sundial Mailing List - international group
- Tips for Searching the Sundial Mailing List Archive
- Google finds definitions of 'sundial'
- Wikipedia Sundials (Links, History, Math, and More)
- Illustrating Shadows
- True Time Workshop - Sundial Blog - Oleg Frolkov describes many different sundials (in Russian w/Google Translate)
EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
- The Sundial Primer by Carl Sabanski
- Building simple sundials - European Assoc. for Astronomy Education
- Solar Energy, Eclipses and Other Pehnomena A good resource for information about solar energy
- Introduction to Sundial Types by Frans Maes (very thorough)
- Fun in the Sun - A Sundial Tutorial by Helga Nordhoff
- Sunshine in your pocket! Making a sundial for the northern hemisphere.
- Making a Sun Clock
- Sun-Earth Day Kit from NASA
- What is a Sundial? - Christopher Daniel
- Measuring the Sky - A Quick Guide to the Celestial Sphere
- Make a Simple Sundial - Instructions
- Make a Sundial - Hour Line Calculator and Video Instructions
- Watches Back in Time (Resource links found by the students of Jessica Lee)
- History of Horology - Clockmaking and Watches
- All About the Sun's Light - Simple reference to facts about sunlight
- Photos of Sundial Types (In French, but very accessible)
SUNDIAL CONSTRUCTION FOR KIDS
- PopUp Paper Sundial Calculator
- Paper Cut Out Vertical Sundial (in many languages)
- Sundials & Solar System for Kids
- Sundial Resources K-8
- Build an Equatorial LEGO Sundial
- Sundial Zone - Make a Sundial
SUNDIAL SOFTWARE & CALCULATORS
- Almanac of Solstices, Equinoxes and Cross Quarter - 2011
- Correct a Commercial Dial to your Latitude & Longitude
- Azimut und Elevation der Sonne
- Orologi Solari software program Downl oad (English)
- Computer aided dialling (CAD) links from Carl Sabanski
- DeltaCad Programs from Valentin Hristov
- Earth and Moon Viewer – amazing software views of our planet
- Illustrating Shadows
- Jürgen Giesen's GeoAstro Java Applets
- NOAA - Refraction and Other Formulas
- NOAA - Solar Position Calculator
- Precision Sundials LLC Software and Other Downloads
- Shadows Pro Sundial and Astrolabe Software
- Solar data JavaScript calculator
- Solar Position, Sun CHarts, Sky Watch,and more from Build It Solar
- Sonnenuhren Free software by Helmut Sonderegger
- Sun Position Calculator
- Sun Earth Tools for solar panels
- SUN an Excel spreadsheet calculating important information for dialists.
- Sundial generator from The Czech Republic and Slovakia
- Tools and Resources for Sun Calculations and Observations
- USNO - Naval Oceanographic Portal
- Virtual Sundial based on the Queens' College dial, Cambridge, UK.
- Welcome to the Sundial Calculator.
- zw2000 - very popular with lots of information and easy to use Fer J. de Vries
GNOMONICS, TRIGONOMETRY AND DIAL CONSTRUCTION
- Convert from deg/min/sec to decimal degrees and vise-versa
- What is Trigonometry?
- Dave's Short Trig Course
- Frequently Asked Questions About Trigonometry
- An introduction to Trigonometry
- Spherical Trigonometry - a new approach (Advanced)
- Cupola Sundial Construction Plans - John Carmichael
- A Polar Cycloid Sundial - Carl Sabanski
- NASA – Make a Sundial
- Tridux 2000 - a device for laying out mirror sundials
- Postcard Sundials - Martins Gills
- A Quest for a Civil Time Polar Sundial
- Zegary Sloneczne Sundials - Theory and Practice (Polish)
- Planetary Society Education & Outreach
ANALEMMATIC SUNDIALS
- Make your own Analemmatic Sundial
- Making an Analemmatic Sundial
- Analemmatic Sundial - How to Build One (NASS)
- Analemmatic Sundial - How to Build One (Pass.Maths.org)
- A new analemmatic sundial in Torreon, Mexico
- Two mean-time analemmatic sundials - Yvon Massé
- Longwood Gardens Analemmatic Sundial - Ken Seidelmann
- Of Analemmas, Mean Time, and the Analemmatic Sundial - Fred W. Sawyer III
- Sunclocks - Human Sundials
- Restoration of the analemmatic sundial at Besançon
ARMILLARY SPHERES
- Woodrow Wilson Memorial - Armillary Sphere 1939
- Cycle of Life Armillary Sphere - Manship
- Meridian Hill Armillary by Manship - Lost in DC
- Giant Armillary Proposed for Theodore Roosevelt Island - Manship
ASTROLABES and ISLAMIC SUNDIALS
- Sundials in Turkey (Ottoman)
- Ottoman Sundial at the Missouri Botanical Garden
- Examen del reloj solar de Ahmad ibn a.s-.Saffar
- The Astrolabe and Chaucer Lots of Information
- Build an Astrolabe
- Make Your Own Astrolabe - NOAA Instructions
- Build Your Own Astrolabe - WIth Teacher Resource Kit
BIFILAR SUNDIALS
- Wikipedia - Bifilar Sundials
- The Bifilar Sundial
- Bifilar Gnomonics Fred Sawyer
- Delta Cad software for Bifilar Sundials Vanentin Hristrov
- Universal Bifilar Sundial
- Theory of Constructing a Bifilar Sundial PDF Download
MASS DIALS
- The Aldbrough Historic Sundial in East Yorkshire
- The Kirkdale Historic 1055 AD sundial in North Yorkshire
MONUMENTAL DIALS
- Manship - 1939 New York World's Fair - Sundial "Time and the Fates of Man"
- Kiselewsk -1939 New York World's Fair - Giant Sundial "Time"
- Kazuo Matsubayashi's Asteroid Landed Softly Sundial
- Mount Laguna Observatory Sundial
- Jaipur Observatory Sundial
- Photo Essay on Jantra Mantar - Five Indian Observatories
- The Pinawa Heritage Sundial
- Perkin Horizontal and Analemmatic Sundial in Illinois
- A unique 48 foot tall sundial in Louisa, VA
- The Kentucky Vietnam Veteran's Memorial
- Design of Kentucky Vietnam Veteran's Memorial
MOON DIALS AND BEYOND TO THE PLANETS
- Moon Connection (Lunar calendar and interesting facts about the moon)
- Full Moon Declination (University of Nebraska – Lincoln)
- Telling the Time by Moonlight
- The Moondial
- A Martian Analemma
- Mars Dial - Two Worlds, One Sun
- A Lunar Analemma
- Celestial Products: Moon Posters
GEOCACHING, SUNDIAL TRAILS, AND WAYMARKING
- Waymarking Sundials (neat - at least 8 pages)
- A Sundial Park in Genk, Belgium (English) & (Dutch)
- Zonnewijzers in Genk (Sundials in the Genk Park)
- Sundial Trails Around the World
- St. Louis Sundial Trail
- Amsterdam Sundial Trail
- Google Earth visualize places on the entire earth
SCHMOYER SUNDIAL
- Schmoyer Sunquest Dial History
- Schmoyer Dial - Perkins Observatory
- Schmoyer Dial - Precision Sundials
- Schmoyer Dial - On Facebook
- Schmoyer Dial - St. Louis
SUNDIALS AT RAILROAD STATIONS
- Templecombe Railway Station Analemmatic Sundial, Somerset UK
- Union Station Horizontal Dial - Los Angeles CA United States
- Sundial at Railway Station in Lenk, Switzerland
- Sun Pointer at Amersfoor Central Station, Netherlands
- Sundials at Santa Fe Railroad Station Dodge City Kansas US (need photos)
- Osaka Station Sundial, Japan
- Liverpool Road Station Sundial - 1830's Manchester Railway Terminus UK
- Topiary Sundial Nairobi Train Station of Busch Gardens Tampa FL US
SUNDIAL AND ASTRONOMICAL VIDEOS
ANCIENT STONE ALIGNMENTS
- Video: Solstice 2007 at Newgrange - Resequenced 6 Minute Version
- Video: Newgrange - Megalithic Marvel – Ancient Inside, 1970’s Outside
- Video: Tomb of Newgrange - Nat'l Geographic
- Video: Stonehenge Astronomical Observatory
- Video: Secrets of Stonehenge - National Geographic
- Video: Stonehenge Monument - National Geographic
- Video: New View on Stonehenge Burials - National Geographic
- Video: New Stonehenge Discovery - National Geographic
- Video: Ancient Monuments of Isle of Man
- Video: Sun's Natural Light at Yosemite Horsetail Falls
- Video: Sun Dagger at Chaco Canyon - Several Videos of the Sun Dagger
- Video: 3D Tour of the Sun Dagger at Chaco Canyon
- Video: Maes Howe Chambered Cairn
ANTIKYTHERA MECHANISM - THE ANCIENT CELESTIAL COMPUTER
- Visit Antikythera - Machine of the Cosmos website for video links
- Video: Antikythera Exhibition at National Archaeological Museum
- Video: Antikythera Mechanism - PBS Nova
- Video: Antikythera Mechanism - 2D
- Video: Antikythera Tomographic Slices of Fragment A
- Video: Antikythera Underwater World
- Video: Antikythera Mapping the Shipwreck
- Video: Antikythera Decoding the 2000 Yr Old Computer (BBC)
ASTRONOMY FUNDAMENTALS
MEASURING TIME AND SUN TRANSITS
- Video: Sundials and Latitude - A description of sunlight falling on the earth
- Video: Measuring Time Through the Centuries – Stonehenge to Digital Watches
- Video: Science Online - Our Planet is a Clock
- Video: NASA - Transit of Venus
MERIDIANA
- Video: Sun on Cassini's Meridian in San Pertronio - Bologna (In Italian)
- Video: La Meridiana di S. Maria degli Angeli - Roma– nice
- Video: Meridiana Modica – Watch a Spot of Sun
- Video: La Meridiana della chiesa della Visitazione di Perinaldo
- Video: La Linea del Sole - Museo Storia/ Scienza - Firenze (in Italian)
- Video: Sun on Cassini's Meridian in San Pertronio - Bologna (In Italian)
- Video: La Meridiana di S. Maria degli Angeli - Roma– nice
- Video: La Meridiana della chiesa della Visitazione di Perinaldo
- Video: Watch the Analemma Over New Jersey
MAKING SUNDIALS AND GNOMONICS
- Video: Gino & Judith Schiovone Create the Bowie Portal Sundial 2011
- Video: Brief History of Sundials and How to Make & Use Them - J. Warren
- Video: Tony Moss Making a Sundial - BBC News
- Video: Large Analemmatic Built for Malta School
- Video: Greenwich Dolphin Sundial
- Video: Focusing Sundial of Bill Gottesman
- Video: Digital Sundial at Burning Man - A Digital Sundial goes up in smoke
- Video: Sundials - Canadian Science and Technology Museum
- Video: Make an Equatorial Sundial w/CD and Toothpick (Tilt CD to 90-Latitude)
- Video: Measuring Time Through the Centuries – Stonehenge to Digital Watches
- Video: TED Lecture - Sending a Sundial to Mars - Bill Nye
- Video: A number on Equation of Time: K.Karney Precise Directions
HISTORICAL BUILDINGS & SUNDIALS
- Video: 17th Century Sundial Discovered at Historic Jamestown
- Video: A 3D Tour of the Pantheon in Rome (In Italian)
- Video: Architecture of the Pantheon (Architecture Documentary)
- Video: History and Architecture of the Pantheon
- Video: Longyearbyer Sundial
- Virtual Tour: The Jantar Mantar Observatory - Google Arts & Culture
SUNDIAL PHOTO GALLERIES
- John Carmichael Stained Glass Sundials From Around The World
- John Carmichael Sundial Cupolas, Towers & Painted Wall Sundials
- Sundials and Theory of Dials at Les cadrans solaires par Jean Pakhomoff
- Willy Leenders Zonnewijzers In Limburg and Neatherlands
- Photo Essay on Jantra Mantar - Five Indian Observatories
- Cadrans Solaires Website - Joël Robic
- Gallery of Sundials of the Month - Frans Maes
- Atlas of Sundials - More than 12,000 photos around the world
- Sundials of the Camino
- Sundials of Scotland - Dennis Cowan
- Gallery of Sundials in Cities Around the World (in Russian)
SUNDIALS IN THE ARTS
- Sundials in the Movies - François Blateyron
- Holbein's Ambassadors polyhedral and cyl indrical sundials
- Holbein's - The Secret of The Ambassadors
- Holbein's Sundials & Instruments
- Mario Arnaldi's collection La Gnomonica nell'Arte
- Kaii Higashiyama (1908 - 1999)
- Franz Marquis Von Bayros (1866 -1924)
- The Measurers: a Flemish Painting of Mathematics in the Sixteenth Century
- Rosse tti's Dantis Amor (3 images)
- Rossetti's Beata Beatrix
- M. C. Escher - sundial
- Poem For a Day - Jiyeon Song
TIME SYSTEMS and LONGITUDE
- 1884 International Prime Meridian Conference - Full Text
- Video: 1884 Longitude Conference
- About the measure of time
- A Brief History of Time Zones
- A Brief History of Time - From Thales to Callippus
- Coordinated Universal Time
- Greenwich Observatory - The Prime Meridian
- Legislative Specification for Coordinating with Universal Time
- Requirements for Universal Time Coordinated and Civil Timekeeping
- Time Zone Map
- The Future of Time: UTC and the Leap Second
- The Longitude of Greenwich and its relationship to GPS
- World Time Zone Map - USNO
- World Cities - Time and Weather
- Why the U.S. Wants To End the Link Between Time and Sun
- Why the Greenwich Meridian Moved
- WGS-84 and the Greenwich Meridian
- Why the U.S. Wants To End the Link Between Time and Sun
CALENDARS - FROM BABYLON TO TODAY
- Astronomical Calendars – Sea and Sky
- Calendrical and Astronomical Links
- How the Date of Easter is Determined
- Calen dar and Timekeeping at Ancient Qumran – the Judean luni-solar calendar
- Mayan Hieroglypics and the Dresden Codex
- Mayan Calendar and the DresdenCodex
- Venus and the Dresden Codex
- Babylonian Calendar and the Venus Table of Ammisaduqa
- On the Astronomical Records and Babylonian Chronology
- The Venus Tablets of Ammizaduga (1928)
EQUATION OF TIME AND THE ANALEMMA
- Graphical Explanation of the Equation of Time
- Calendar Systems of the World
- Equation of Time Website - Kevin Karney
- The vernal equinox also the autumnal equinox
- Photographing the Analemma with a Pin-Hole Camera
- Amazing Gallery of Analemma Photos - Anthony Ayiomamitis
- Analemma - NASA Photo of the Day – Anthony Ayiomamitis
- Analemma - an extensive explanation - Bob Urschel
MERDIANA - SOLAR LINES IN THE CHURCH
- The Line of the Sun - Institute and Museum of History of Science
- Meridian of Milan Cathedral
- Meridian of Fossombrone
- Meridian of Santa Maria degli Angeli
- Eclipses And Pin-Hole Sundials The eclipse of 1999
- The Meridian Gnomon of Saint Sulpice
- Saint Sulpice Summer Solstice Plaque
- Meridiane in Piemonte (Italian)
- Meridian at the Paris Observatory
ANCIENT DIALS and ALIGNMENTS
- The Tower of Radkan - Solar Observatory - An Iranian site ~1261 AD
- Radkan Tower of Iran
- Egyptian Sundial from Thutmosis III (dated 1479-1425 BCE)
- Egyptian Sundial from Ramsesside Period (dated 1292 – 1069 BCE)
- Reconstruction of Ancient Egyptian Sundials & Methods
- Sunrise on the Equinox + 1
- Solar alignments at the Arc de Triomphe Link 1 Link 2 Link 3
- The Sun Dagger in Chaco Canyon
- Chaco Canyon Solstice Project
- Sun Dagger – NASA article
- View from an Anasazi Cave - William Calvin
- Medicine Wheel
- Obliquity Applet – Compute earth’s obliquity over the ages
- Equinox - The Mayan Astronomers
- Megalithic Tomb at Knowth - Ireland
- Megalithic Tomb at Newgrange - Ireland
- Ancient Sundials of Ireland
- Ancient Astronomical Alignments – NASA article - Dr. Sten Odenwald
- Sun Watchers Through Time – NASA multimedia
- Callanish Stones
HISTORICAL SUNDIALS
- Largest Sundials - Jaipur and Jantar Mantar Sundial legacy of Jai Singh II
- Centuries of Stained Glass Sundials
- Reproduction of Thomas Jefferson's Spherical Sundial
- Scientists identify sundial at Qumran
- Lo strumento astronomico di QUMRAN - Nuove interpretazioni(PDF - Italian)
- A polyhedral dial attributed to Nicholas Kratzer
- Astronomic Clock of Prague See the Excel spreadsheet at the bottom of the page.
- Athens: The Tower of the Winds
- Histoire de la mesure du temps (French)
- Queens' College Dial
- The MacTutor History Archive of Mathematics
- Gnomonic Blocks-15th Century Multi-Faceted Sundials
- History of Astronomy - Instruments - University of Bonn
- Augustus' sundial
MUSEUMS, PLANATERIUM AND SUNDIAL COLLECTIONS
- Institute and Museum of History of Science Florence
- Sundial park in Genk, Belgium
- Sundials in the National Maritime Museum
- Epact: Scientific Instruments of Medieval and Rennaissance Europe
- Sundials of Germany
- Museo Galileo Excellent short videos on sundials, astrolabes, and more
- Old quadrant in the Museum of the History of Science, Oxford
- A walk through time - National Institute of Science & Technology
- Sundial pages at the Bremen Planetarium (German)
- Adler Planetarium Sundial Collection (Search the Collection)
REFERENCE BOOKS
- The Book Of Sun-Dials originally compiled by the late Mrs. Alfred Gatty
- Chapter-II The Book Of Sun-Dials A Celebration of Women Writers
- Digital Library - Univ of Pennsylvania - Celebration of Women Writers
- Google Book Search – All the Standard Sundial Books in Print
- BSS Sundial Glossary – John Davis
- Sundial Books
- Sun Dials and Roses of Yesterday Earl - 1902
- de Architectura - Book IX Marcus Vitruvius - Roman MS on science and sundials
GENERAL
- The Sundial - the time in light and shadow games (Italian)
- Explore the Sundial and Astronomical Interests of Reinhold Kriegler (German)
- Science & Society Picture Library Sundials
- Sundials in the Garden - Scott Arboretum
- Robert Adzema's sundial at the Hyatt in Jersey City
- Derbyshire Sundials
- A Few Sundials - Bill Thayer
- Tony Moss' "Multi Dial"
- Cadrans solaires Explanation of the Equation of Time (French)
- Magnetic Declination
- The Longyearbyen Sundial (Most northern sundial)
- Sundials At New College, Oxford (PDF)
- Sundials at Wadham College, Oxford (PDF)
- Sundials - The New Zealand Garden Journal
- Sundials- Brooke Clarke - many links
- The Homepage of Mario Arnaldi
- Convert geographical co-ordinates: - decimal to d,m,s; and vise- versa
- Sundials National Institute of Standards and Technology
- Sundials - Encyclopaedia Brittannica
- Sundial Mottos - Wikipedia
- Sundial Mottos - Sundials on the Internet
- Gnomonics Riccardo Anselmi (Italian, English)
- Solis et Artis Opus Mario Arnaldi (Italian)
- Gnomonica Rosa Casanova (Italian)
- Mario Arnaldi (Italian)
- Gnomonique par Yvon Massé (French)
DIALS AROUND THE WORLD
- Truman State University's Solar Clock Garden (or horologium florae, or floral sundial)
- The Earth &Sky Equatorial Sundial by John Carmichael
- Greenwich - Dolphin Sundial
- Greenwich - Dolphin Sundial History
- Perranzabuloe Millenium Sundial - Cornwall
- Precision sundial in Tholey (German)
- The Amble Dial - (England)
- A giant sundial in Cornwall (Proposed)
- Lumbutts Sundial - West Yorkshire
- Sundial on the Atelier Acacia in Mont-Dauphin (Haute Alpes, France)
- "Child Sundial" at the Missouri Botanical Garden
- Stellafane Russell Porter Sun Clock
- Queens' College Dial
- Sundial at Fort Oranje, St.Eustatius, Dutch Caribbean.
- A Mirror Sundial in Bremen
- Sundial in Beijing
- British Sundialists visit White Rock, Vancouver
- London-Footprints Sundials
- Czech Republic and Slovakia
- Prague Sundial Trail
- Proposed Sundial for Reykjavik, Iceland
- Sundials in Ireland
- Cadrans Solaires en Alsace
- Cadrans Solaires de Paris
- Cadrans Solaires France
- Cadrans Solaires de Paris (French)
- L'Obélisque de la Concorde (French)
- Zonnewijzers, schaduw van de tijd (Dutch) Wiley Leender -Sundials of Flanders
- Sonnenuhren in Trier (German)
- Sonnehurenfreunde der Region Basel
- A new sundial in Bremen (German)
- Bremen - (German)
- Sonnenuhr (German)
- Sonnenuhren - Daniel Roth (German)
- Some sundials in Rome
- Orologio Solare Equatoriale - Pisa (English
- Imago Romae Horologium- The sundials of Grottaferrata, Rome
- Cuadrantes Solares De Yucatán, México
- Sundials of Limburg - a province of Flanders (in Dutch – Willey Leenders- click around)
- Gnomonica cadrans solaires de Belgique
- A sundial at Kochi Castle (Japan)
- Saracinesco, the town of sundials
- Long Island City Sundial (U.S. proposed sundial project)
- Turtle Bay Bridge (U.S. Redding CA Santiago Calatrava’s)
- Sundials of Yugoslavia
- A Virtual Tour
- Opening Day at Sundial Bridge
MISCELLANEOUS SUNDIAL ARTICLES
- The Kellogg's Raisin Bran Sundial
- McDonald's makes a McSundial
- Sundial on a computer chip
- Pilkington Gibbs Heliochronometer
- Make various sundials including one using your fingers
- There used to be a sundial here...
- Use the wisdom of the sun to aim a satellite dish.
ANTIQUE DEALERS
SUNDIAL DEALERS
- Digital Sundials International and how it works: Digital Sundial Patent
- David Brown Sundials - Sundial Making & Letter Cutting
- Helios Sundials (German Firm Text in English)
- Sundials Australia
- A Stonehenge watch
- Zegary Sloneczne (Polish Artisans)
- See the NASS webpage NASS Sundial Artisans
- Details
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