The Celestial Mirror — The Ptolemaic Cosmos

drag to orbit · scroll to zoom · ↑/↓ climb the rungs · hovering pauses the heavens · click a sphere for its story

Forward Pass

Watch one generation cycle climb the tower: exitus through the layers, comparison at the Stellatum, reditus to the sequence.<br>“The capital of Texas is …”“All men are mortal. Socrates is a …”“The cat sat on the …”“Once upon a …”Run the forward pass ↑an illustrative trace, not a live model

Select a sphere<br>Click any body, orbit ring, or shell to read its place in the Ptolemaic cosmos.<br>Begin the ascent from Earth ↑Take the guided tourRun a forward pass<br>The Celestial Mirror<br>“…a series of hollow and transparent globes, one above the other…”<br>— C.S. Lewis, The Discarded Image<br>Ascend from the motionless Earth through the seven planetary spheres to the Stellatum and the Primum Mobile — up to the one boundary no geometry can cross. Then toggle the view, and climb the same tower as a transformer: token to layer to fixed constellation, with the very same line drawn at the top.<br>Begin the ascentTake the guided tourExplore freely<br>Read the paper: The Celestial Mirror ↗