UGears Mechanical Tellurion

The idea of a space-themed model has been "floating in the ether" at UGears for some time now. Every time Ugears' announce a new model, hopeful UGears fans will ask, "Is it an orrery?" From this shared desire a project was born. Ugears' mission: to spread knowledge of space and time by helping people visualize the movements of the planet Ugears' live on, and its closest satellite, the moon.

UGears is proud to present the Mechanical Tellurion, an accurate wooden model representation of Ugears' corner of the universe. A tellurion (also spelled tellurian, tellurium, and sometimes called a loxocosm), is an ingenious mechanism that depicts the cosmic dance between Sun, Earth and Moon. The causes of day and night, the phases of the moon, and the changing seasons are seen and understood according to the movements of this 3D puzzle. A tellurion (from the Latin tellus, meaning "earth") is related to the orrery, which illustrates the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons in the solar system in a heliocentric model.

What is my place in the universe? Where am I going? Ugears' can't help you with the metaphysical aspect of these questions, but this wooden puzzle will help you understand the voyages you make as a passenger on planet Earth, and your interconnected relationship with some of your nearest celestial neighbors. Ugears' all experience the regular cycles of day and night, the phases of the moon, the changing of the seasons and the passing of the years. But how many of Ugears' truly understand these phenomena, or can explain what's behind the clocks and calendars that rule Ugears' lives? Any child can tell you how old they are, but ask a child how many times they've circled the sun, and you might get a puzzled look, or an amusing range of answers: A hundred twenty-seven? Ten thousand? Once? Never?

Build the beguiling DIY wooden model Tellurion, enjoy showing it to your family and friends, and you will all have a better understanding of the heavens, the seasons, and the concept of time itself. Turn the handle to set the closely calibrated system of gears in motion. One turn of the handle = one rotation of the earth on its axis = one day. Point to a spot-on Earth's surface, observe the spinning earth's position relative to the sun, and visualize sunrise and sunset, the passage of day into night. The Tellurion shows the phases of the moon are a function of the moon's position relative to the sun and earth. When rotating, the moon rises and falls slightly, thereby changing its trajectory. The earth's orbit around the sun, together with a correct depiction of the 23.5-degree inclined orientation of the earth on its axis, shows why Ugears' experience changing seasons (outside the equatorial regions). The Tellurion charts the passage of the seasons, while also giving a handsome graphic representation of the zodiac, showing the sign and constellation under which you were born.