Bloomington  

Sundial: 38
State/Province:  Indiana Country:  USA
Dial Type:  Horizontal Dial Condition:  Fair
  Latitude and Longitude: 39° 11.050 N  86° 31.383 W
Location:
  • Indiana University Campus, in front of Assembly Hall of the Baseball Arena
 
Description:
  • A small horizontal dial, about 18 inches in diameter. The dial plate is tilted 2 deg to the horizon to allow water run-off. However, more unusual is the base that contains a hand crank connected to a scalloped drum that tilts the entire dial to adjust for the Equation of Time. The drum is rotated to the current date and the drum edge pushes a cam that tilts the plane of the horizontal face so that standard time is indicated to within half a minute. The dial is actually mounted on an equatorial axis. Since 1979 the dial has gone into a state of disrepair and is overgrown by bushes.

    In July 2011 it is reported that the adjusting knob no longer works to tilt the dial.
 
General Information:
  • Owner: Indiana University
  • Designer: Robert Atkinson
  • Builder:
  • Construction Date: 1979
 
References:
  • Sky & Telescope, Feb 1979, p.138-40.

Last Revised: 2020-08-02 19:30