: an apparatus showing the relative positions and motions of bodies in the solar system by balls moved by a clockwork
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In the 1700s, the orrery, a clockwork model of the Solar System, was developed.—Martin Bush, Space.com, 5 July 2025 The discovery underscored how Earth was not the center of the universe, but a small player in an orrery of smaller orbs spinning around greater ones.—science.org, 19 Sep. 2024 The most striking addition to their dark jumble shop are several balls, such as a soccer ball and the bright red sphere of a punching bag, on stands, which turns the whole room into a janky orrery—a model of a planetary system—with a Spalding basketball playing the Earth.—Helen Shaw, The New Yorker, 13 Apr. 2024 By the 1950s, the traditional Copernican orrery was in need of an electronic upgrade.—IEEE Spectrum, 1 Oct. 2023 Few things are as captivating as an orrery.—Jay Bennett and Jennifer Leman, Popular Mechanics, 19 Jan. 2021 And like a globe, an orrery also serves a practical function.—Jay Bennett and Jennifer Leman, Popular Mechanics, 19 Jan. 2021 Christina suggests Hiram’s hidden pages are connected to his orrery — or solar system model — which was secreted away in his home.—Ariana Romero, refinery29.com, 8 Sep. 2020 Hippolyta finds in the orrery, which send her to the observatory (the numbers are 39.805499 and -95.159492).—Ariana Romero, refinery29.com, 28 Sep. 2020
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