"It spent hundreds of years languishing on the seabed off the Isles of Scilly in the far south-west of Britain before being hauled back to the surface by divers and setting off a circumnavigation of the world. Finally the Pednathise Head astrolabe a rare example of a 16th-century navigational instrument once used by sailors to determine latitude is back on Scilly after being rediscovered on the other side of the Atlantic."
"It turns out that after being sold and leaving the UK, the astrolabe passed through private collections in Australia and the US, its true identify forgotten along the way, before ending up in a museum on the Florida Keys. It's been on quite a journey, said Xavier Duffy, the curator of the Isles of Scilly Museum. We're thrilled to have it back on Scilly and in the care of the museum. We can't wait to share its story with visitors."
A 16th-century bronze astrolabe from a Spanish shipwreck off Pednathise Head in the Isles of Scilly was recovered from the seabed around 1990. The rare navigational instrument, used to determine latitude, was incomplete but retained value because few examples survive. The wreck likely dates to the Spanish Armada period around 1588, reflecting the archipelago's history of ship losses. After recovery the astrolabe was sold, passed through private collections in Australia and the United States, and became misidentified as an astrolabe from the Dutch ship Nassau. It later entered a Florida Keys museum and has now been returned to the Isles of Scilly Museum for care and display.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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