phillips planisphere

[jango fett]

Wots the use bought one and wheres the planets ? draco and Bootes and hercules ?? i want planets names and stuff

[RogerTheDodger]

The planets move in relation to the stars, so no use putting them on there.

Why not use Stellerium to find where the planets are, then you can use the planisphere to find them.

[tbird]

Planetary tables are on the reverse, so although not on the planisphere itself, their locations can be found using it.

[jango fett]

thanks for helping but i dont know whether im cut out for stargazing the heavens looked on back and wot the heckers lol

[iamjulian]

Get yourself a goto telescope, then you won't have to learn anything difficult, unless you want to.

[Capricorn]

Set the planisphere with the date and time.

Read off the rear where the planet is this month (Jupiter is ~37)

On the front locate 37 degrees on the outer ring and imagine a line from the 37 deg point to the round shiny bit that it all rotates round.

Where this line crosses the ecliptic (the dotted line on the sky map) is where Jupiter is.

Aries at present.

Find a planisphere is one of the easier way to work out where the planets are.

[jango fett]

thankyou for that information greatly recieved report back later many thanks

[brantuk]

Jupiter is the brightest thing in the south sky around 11pm - look up about 55 degrees you can't miss it. Check where the ecliptic is in Stellarium for a rough guide

[coffee_prince]

i never got on with planispheres, I have a star map I dont look at that either. download stellarum

[jango fett]

hi ya where do i download stellarum , the planisphere is now a coffee mat there rubbish many thanks for info:icon_salut:

[carastro]

the planisphere is now a coffee mat there rubbish

I disagree, I think they are a very useful tool, especially if you're a learner and somewhere where you don't have access to a computer. I used one a lot when I started and it taught me heaps.

I especially found my Southern hemisphere planispehere useful when I was in unfamiliar territory in Australia and in the outback.

Stellarium is even better, but you have to have a computer with you at the time.

Carole

[Squif]

I find they are really useful to- It takes a bit of learning to get the hang of them all, however once you do then they are a life saver (I don't like having my computer with me because im fed up of computers during the day!)

[jango fett]

Didnt take me more than 1 second to realise if i downloaded the stellarum that it would be no good without a lap top and stuff ,didnt wanna be hauling that around outside ...secondly the planisphere isnt great .....is there one you can buy that just simply tells you what planets or stars your looking at ....its no good to me when it says cepheus ...or pisces or lacerta i wanna see a chart that quite simply tells you saturn ..mars..which right now you wont see..venus etc not the jargan thats written on a planisphere ...anyway the planisphere is a pretty good place mat may i add only my feeble opinion. what do i know. thanks tho capricorn and others i understand a bit more than i did thanks to advice given...however i dont think a planisphere is much use.

[Squif]

oooooo one god tip I learnt is to find a constellation (like orion) see how much you can see through your scope and create a little ring out of metal (or paper) and then move it around the planesphere - it allows you to track it so much easier

[jango fett]

Forget bout planispheres just found a decent app for android phone and all you do is point the phone at the heavens and bobs yeah uncle it tells you what stars your looking at, make sure your android phone is 2.2 EASY PEASY

[coffee_prince]

if you have an android phone try myskeye or google skymap, they are fairly accurate, you point the phone and it will tell you wat youre looking at

[Squif]

does anyone know if there is one on the blackberry? (not a snob honest!)

[jango fett]

Dont know squif but there is for the Galaxy try aving a look on the net matey i would think there must be or someone in the know on the forum should be of help .

[Skiddins]

Dont know squif but there is for the Galaxy try aving a look on the net matey i would think there must be or someone in the know on the forum should be of help .

What app did you get in the end?

[Squif]

hummmm another reason to swtich to the droid!

[GJBC]

there seems to be a few apps out there for astronomy at present. the novelty of them is good but the hard fact is for planets they are fine as you can see a some planets naked Eye ( once you know what you are looking at ) going past that and onto more deep space items causes issues of light killing any dark adaptation you may have gained each time you look at one of these screens.

we had a person observing with us a few months back could not see nothing as he expected through his scope and it took a little persuasion to get him to turn the iPhone off as the light was shining in his (and our) eyes killing his night vision. hey presto two mins later he was looking at the object through the view finder and he was looking at faint fuzzies through the eyepiece.

so yes they have some use and as you learn the sky you will become less reliant on them. I dont know all the constellations but i do know the main one i use as starting points, i.e. Orion pagasus cygnus cassiopia leo delphinias ursa major and a few more.

i do not often use a planisphere though i do know how, i use a star map atlas i can take out with me there are loads of these to choose form. even these will not show the position of the planets as the planets move through the constellations and are not static like the stars.

if i am going to look for planets i have a look on stelariaum or one of the other planetarium before i go out to see where it should be or what constellation it will be in and where it will be within that constellation. i also make a mental note on how to get to that constellation by using one of the main constellation i already know as a starting point.

i know if i was looking for Jupiter tonight i would be waiting to see a fairly bright star come up towards the north (Capella) and wait around about an hour or so then look east to see a bog bright object rising towards the east it will be the brightest there that will be Jupiter. Jupiter will be below Aries and the Triangulum and to the right you will see Pisces and the the left Perseus. take the coffee mat with you and see if you can match the constellation in the sky to the ones on the planesphere. you will find over time you will call on it often.

hope you get it soon but there is no rush they are there each night well until they rotate and set in the east that is

Have fun

[jango fett]

interesting read GJBC thankyou

[imarcs]

Hey Boba,

I started with an app, then got Stellarium. However i still take nothing outside with me apart from my notebook, red torch and Binos. I spend a little bit of time, probably an hour before i go out to observe weather permitting and make a plan of what i'm going to look at. I have found this is the best learning process there is. Seeing the objects in the sky is the confirmation that I have completed the process successfully and for me, writing it down in a plan is a sure fire way for me to remember ironic though it is.

May the force be with you.

[jango fett]

i understand that and a good method , im now thinking with all these new gizmos around in this tech age to help us makes us more lazy so im gonna get to maybe understand the planisphere that bit more although my new app for my phone is very good

[brantuk]

You really can't beat the feeling of being able to point at any object totally unaided by anything other than a good memory, knowledge of the sky, and mindful of the time of year.

Some chaps have got 100's of objects stored in their minds from a lifetime of astronomy and can give you a great guided tour of a bunch of objects with no goto, planisphere, islab gphone mobile gadget, or even a compass.

I envy them but it all comes from experience and dedication. I can currently do about half a dozen lol