Filtering Ideas

I had an idea of a device so grand in scale that, not only did the Earth, but even the Sun revolved around it. And the civilisations of this alternate Earth will have learned to interpret the shapes of the liquid within it into the time. At the same time I was contemplating a pocket-sized device that contained (or Orb) a hyper-sensitive liquid that responded to the position of the moon - similar to the tides. Though I decided that I wanted to stick with an outer space device; I had go at finding a comprasize between the two. Now the grand outer space device was the orb, but instead of containing this liquid it contained a star with liquids systematical changing and casting a shadows and shapes that can be interpreted into an accurate measurement of the time.