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The Franklin Institute

In the spirit of inquiry and discovery embodied by Benjamin Franklin, the mission of The Franklin Institute is to inspire a passion for learning about science and technology. Though its historic museum is a central learning space, the Institute has evolved to provide people with educational resources in their own neighborhoods through hands-on activities in classrooms, workshops in libraries, community centers, and other settings, and through ways to interact online.

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Resources from The Franklin Institute

Resource Kit

Treading Among the Stars: How We’ve Found Our Way

Long before there were advanced technologies available for studying the sky, people devised ways of depicting the sun, moon, planets, and stars in relation to the Earth to figure out how our planet fit into the vast universe. Our method of exploring the night sky has grown to now include actual trips into space, even visiting another celestial body in person. But before technology made direct exploration possible, we had to use remote methods to map the expanse we could see from Earth.

Created by: The Franklin Institute

Star Charts of the Four Seasons (FI Catalog # CSA 569.1-.4) 

Star Charts of the Four Seasons: Map of the Heavens As Seen in the Spring (Catalog # CSA #569.1) Map of the Heavens As Seen in the Summer (Catalog # CSA #569.2) Map of the Heavens As Seen in the Autumn (Catalog # CSA #569.3) Map of the Heavens As Seen in the Winter (Catalog # CSA 569.4)

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Refracting Telescope in the Museum's Observatory

This 10" refracting telescope was built by the Zeiss company for The Franklin Institute's Observatory in the 1930s. The telescope has a "Urania" mounting which keeps the eyepiece steady even when moving the telescope. The eyepieces provide magnifications from 35 to 468 power for both normal-view and wide-field for open cluster observation. The Observatory is covered by a 20 ton steel and glass skylight which can be rolled back quickly exposing the entire sky.

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Galileo Galilei’s Refracting Telescope Reproduction

Modern astronomy was born in 1609 when Galileo Galilei used a telescope he built to observe Jupiter, Saturn, and the Moon. His systematic observations demonstrated that our moon was not a smooth object that emitted light, but one covered in craters that reflected the Sun. He shared his findings widely, transforming our concept of the cosmos.

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Huff Tellurian

Tellurians are astronomical instruments that show the rotation of the Earth in its axis and its orbit around the sun. This movement demonstrates the day and night as well as the seasons. Table-top models with gears and levers similar to this one, were used in the 1800s in schools and public lectures to demonstrate astronomical events.

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Glass from the making of the 200’’ Hale Telescope

This piece of glass is a chip from the 200” primary mirror which was manufactured by Corning for the California Institute of Technology’s Hale Telescope. The primary mirror is the principal light-gathering surface of a reflecting telescope, and they were made from shaped disks of polished reflective metal, or in later telescopes, glass.

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Priestley’s Orrery

This orrery was owned by Joseph Priestley who was an Enlightenment thinker and is credited with the discovery of oxygen. Priestley’s orrery depicts Mercury, Venus, and Earth rotating around the sun. The moon, with phases engraved below, orbits the Earth.

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Dollond Telescope

A refracting telescope uses a lens, as opposed to mirrors, to observe distant objects. This particular telescope was created by John Dollond and his son Peter. The duo had been manufacturing optical instruments since 1750. John Dollond is also credited with patenting the achromatic lens, which allowed an individual to observe without color distortion. While in London in 1786, Thomas Jefferson purchased his first telescope from the Dollonds, likely one quite similar to this.

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Moveable Planisphere of the Heavens at Every Minute

This planisphere has an inner hemispheric map in detailed colors, depicting mythological figures in the constellations.

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Moveable Planisphere of the Heavens at Every Minute

A planisphere is a portable device designed to aid in the study of stars and constellations visible in the night sky at any given date and time, generally for a particular location. This particular planisphere, created by Henry Whitall in 1862, depicts a dark blue sky with the constellations, centered on the latitude of Philadelphia. The moveable planisphere is to Astronomy the same as the map to Geography.

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Moveable Astronomical Lantern Slides

From the 1600s through the early 1900s, glass slides—some with wooden frames and mechanical parts as seen here—were used to display astronomical images. The slides were positioned in a lantern slide projector, which projected enlarged versions of the images on a screen in front of the guests gathered for astronomy lessons.

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Fecker Reflecting Telescope

This reflecting telescope was originally placed in the rooftop observatory of The Franklin Institute, a science museum in Philadelphia. Reflecting telescopes use a series of curved mirrors collect and reflect light to a focus inside the tube. From the 1920s through the 1960s, Fecker was a leading manufacturer of professional telescopes for universities, observatories, and museums. During the 1950s, Fecker expanded its offerings to include smaller scopes for amateur use.

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Sendtner Orrery

An orrery is a mechanical 3-D map or model of our Solar System. This glass globe represents the celestial sphere, showing the brighter stars and constellations, while the interior shows the motion of the planets and their moons through the use of gears. Though the sizes of the planets and their satellites and the distances between them are not to scale, they rotate in proportion to the planets they represent.

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Looking to the Skies with Telescopes

Treading Among the Stars: How We’ve Found Our Way

Telescopes have provided an opportunity to bring what is far away near.

Created by: The Franklin Institute

Mapping the Skies with Star Charts

Treading Among the Stars: How We’ve Found Our Way

Throughout history, people have been drawing representations of the sky. Often, the drawings begin as simplified versions and as astronomers collect more information, the drawings become more detailed and accurate. In the 1800s, Henry Whitall found many ways to share the information of the time with a variety of learning tools.

Created by: The Franklin Institute

Planetary Models: Celestial Globes and Orreries

Treading Among the Stars: How We’ve Found Our Way

Globes and other 3-D models help to put objects in space into perspective, and serve as scientific instruments, ornamental showpieces, and physical illustrations of the astronomy beliefs of the day. Over time, as scientists gather more and more data they use it to improve their models and make them more and more accurate.

Created by: The Franklin Institute

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