Planisphere

[singlespeedman]

I am currently on a short break in cloudy and sodden Cornwall but have come across a planisphere for 51.4 degrees north ( I think ) and was wondering if they are any good. I do have every gadget and iPhone / iPad app you can imagine but it seem really handy to use under a red light where my gadgets are bound to destroy night eyes

[Ptarmigan]

Quite good for familiarising with the constellations, but nothing beats a good star chart.

You could make one ! Lots of plans on the web.

Google "planisphere template" or "planisphere construction" or even just "how to make a planisphere" !

[ollypenrice]

Planispheres are great and miles better than gizmos which provide one fragment of information at once. On a planisphere's bottom layer you have the sky that, at some time during the year, will be visible from that latitude. The window of the top layer allows you to reduce this to what is visible at a given time and date. Brilliant. Use it to learn the constellations and plan your evening. Of course, it is not a star chart. You need that as well.

Olly

[singlespeedman]

I did end up buying the planisphere and just need to wait until the damn clouds lift to use it now. I am beginning to understand why astronomers in the UK are so good at what they do - it is that cloudy all the time they spend 90% of their hobby researching ready for the brief window in the sky that they can actually indulge in their passion.

[anmolmark]

A planesphere works for just one lattitude. This one is for 42 degrees north--the lattitude of southern lower michigan where I live.A planisphere is a star chart analog computing instrument in the form of two adjustable disks that rotate on a common pivot. It can be adjusted to display the visible stars for any time and date. It is an instrument to assist in learning how to recognize stars and constellations. The astrolabe, an instrument that has its origins in the Hellenistic civilization, is a predecessor of the modern planisphere.