Do you know the name for this?
By Judy Evans
@JudyEv (357978)
Rockingham, Australia
July 9, 2025 7:41pm CST
The notice says that this model that shows the orbits of the sun, moon and earth is a tellurium. This one was in the Wyalkatchem Museum and was assembled by Richard Wilkinson, who was a scientist and teacher at Toodyay in Western Australia. However, on researching ‘tellurium’, I could only find references to a chemical compound. So that’s a bit of a mystery.
Whatever the answer is, I was taken with this contraption. It was assembled from parts which came each week in a magazine. Unfortunately, I forgot to take down the name of the magazine. There must surely have been over a year’s worth of magazine to procure all the parts. What an amazing machine and what a help it would have been in explaining to students the rotation of the the earth around the sun and the moon around the earth.
16 people like this
14 responses
@DaddyEvil (152829)
• United States
15h
Found it! Here's a link to it...
https://timelyandtimeless.com/collections/tellurium-mechanical-astronomical-clocks
3 people like this
@DaddyEvil (152829)
• United States
14h
@JudyEv I just added "mechanical" to tellurium and it brought it up.
You're very welcome.
2 people like this
@JudyEv (357978)
• Rockingham, Australia
15h
It seems tellurium is correct, thanks to @DaddyEvil's searching.
1 person likes this
@rsa101 (38994)
• Philippines
16h
What a fascinating contraption indeed! That tellurium must’ve been quite a sight — especially knowing it was painstakingly assembled piece by piece through a magazine subscription. It really is a brilliant educational tool, and I can imagine how much it would’ve helped students visualize the complex movements of the Earth, Moon, and Sun.
Reading your post brought back a personal memory — when I was young, my dad, who was a physics teacher, used to work in a school science laboratory. I remember seeing something very similar to what you’re describing. Ours wasn’t as shiny or elaborate as the one you saw at the Wyalkatchem Museum, but it had the same awe-inspiring quality. It’s amazing how these models, no matter how humble, can spark curiosity and wonder about the universe.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (357978)
• Rockingham, Australia
15h
@DaddyEvill has put up a link that shows quite a variety of different models of these gadgets. And you're right - it's quite awe-inspiring. Imagine if the teacher had missed picking up one copy and was missing a vital part? 
1 person likes this
@rsa101 (38994)
• Philippines
12h
@JudyEv True, that was one way to subscribe to their magazine religiously so you can get one part from another. Perhaps it may have worked in the past, but nowadays people are in a hurry to finish things, so they will not be interested in waiting for the next part in the next edition.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (194036)
• United States
11h
I see Daddy Evil found something for you. That's a neat looking contraption.
1 person likes this
@GardenGerty (164657)
• United States
3m
Maybe the correct word is tellarium instead? It looks like something very precise.
@luisadannointed (7797)
• Philippines
13h
Thank you for the info, never saw that before.
1 person likes this
@changjiangzhibin89 (16990)
• China
3h
We had the armillary sphere in ancient times.
https://cn.bing.com/images/search?q=chinese+armillary+sphere&qpvt=Chinese+armillary+sphere&form=BESBTB&first=1&ensearch=1
@FourWalls (76487)
• United States
15h
It’s also called tellurion (maybe to avoid confusing it with the element tellurium). Here’s another article to supplement what Daddy Evil posted.
https://www.instructables.com/Make-a-Tellurion-sun-earth-moon-Orrery-for-Your-Ki/
1 person likes this
@wolfgirl569 (118970)
• Marion, Ohio
4h
I had no idea of the name but could tell it was the sun, earth and moon.
@JudyEv (357978)
• Rockingham, Australia
15h
I would have liked to see it working. It would be really something to see.
