Rockville  

Sundial: 1108
State/Province:  Maryland Country:  USA
Dial Type:  Reflective Equatorial Condition:  Excellent
  Latitude and Longitude: 39° 5.651' N  77° 12.078' W
Location:
  • The Universities at Shady Grove
    9630 Gudelsky Dr, Rockville MD 20850

    Dial is in the center of the universities on Founders Plaza

    The Universities at Shady Grove (USG) is a partner campus of nine Maryland public universities: Bowie State University, Salisbury University, Towson University,University of Baltimore, University of Maryland Baltimore, University of Maryland Baltimore County, University of Maryland College Park, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, University of Maryland Global Campus
 
Description:
  • One of Bill Gottesman's unique-design Renaissance dials of cast and structural bronze with a 27 inch diameter helix with a celestial-north aligned axis. Time is told by a focused beam of light that moves around the helix throughout the day. The light beam is reflected from a long cylindrical unsilvered mirror in a structure that supports the helix. A sliding time scale within the helix can be adjusted for EOT and DST and includes longitude correction. Once this scale is adjusted for date, the dial shows civil, or clock, time. The dial base is cast bronze allowing adjustment for latitude and placed on a concrete pedestal with a black granite plinth.
 
General Information:Inscription:
  • Owner: Universities at Shady Grove
  • On Plaque at sundial base:The Renaissance Sundial is large bronze helical focusing sundial, the only of one of its kind. It projects a sharply focused beam of sunlight onto a helical time scale, telling time with extreme accuracy. The timescale slides in its helical track, allowing adjustment for daylight savings and the equation of time. The width of the beam of light on the helix is 2 minutes of time, the same as the sun in the sky.

    To Read the time
    1. Locate the beam of light on the inside of the helix
    2. Because of the mirror, read the time right to left


  • Designer: Precision Sundials LLC - Bill Gottesman
  • Builder: Precision Sundials LLC - Bill Gottesman
  • Construction Date: August 2000
 

Last Revised: 2024-06-06 13:20