The sun dial worked during daylight, but how did people agree on what time it was at night before clocks were invented?

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[–] 42 points 2 years ago* (3 children)

This past winter, I started using Orion as a clock while I was out walking the dogs in the evenings. Got pretty good and could guesstimate the time to within about 30 minutes.

That only works until about 3 am or so, but if I was out more often that late, I could probably just pick a different constellation.

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  • [–] 47 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    Look at this fancy mf able to see Orion at night without it being blocked out by ludicrous amounts of light pollution

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  • [–] 5 points 2 years ago (1 child)

    How long do you spend walking your dogs!? Just look at the clock when you go out and won't you still be accurate to within 30 minutes when you get back?

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  • [–] 2 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

    Ha, I phrased it poorly.

    What I meant was that I started noticing Orion's position in the sky at certain relatively fixed times. After a while, I could just look at where it was, relative to the horizon, and determine the current time within about 30 minutes (between about 5:30 PM and 3 AM when it's above the horizon here)

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