cometariumn.
/ˌkɒmᵻˈtɛːrɪəm/, U.S. /ˌkɑməˈtɛriəm/ Astronomy. Now historical.
A mechanical device for demonstrating the appearance and motion of a comet moving in an elliptical orbit.
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the world > the universe > cosmology > science of observation > astronomical instruments > representational device > [noun] > mechanical
theoric1585
cometarium1743
1743 B. Martin Course Lect. Nat. & Exper. Philos. 28 In the orrery and cometarium, the whole Machinery is a Compages of Wheels of various Sizes, suitably contrived and adapted to produce circular and elliptical Motions of Bodies representing the Planets and Comets.
1845 Suppl. Liverpool Mercury 31 Oct. 1/6 With a well made instrument, on the construction of that New Cometarium, and with a properly described diagram for the comet's course, the geocentric positions of this..may be readily ascertained.
1935 L. S. Boas Woman's Educ. Begins iv. 178 In April 1829 a Young Ladies High School advertised..that it possessed globes, a solar Microscope, Fergusons Compound Engine, a Tellurian, a Cometarium, and an Orrery.
2001 Isis 92 182/1 Struyk..eventually constructed a ‘cometarium’, which provided observers with an easy way to check whether a comet that appeared in the sky had passed the earth before.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1743