Planisphere christmas present

[JAG007]

So I have been asked by my work colleague what I want for Christmas, and as I am just starting to rekindle my astronomy inters I thought I would tell them I just wanted a good Planisphere. As I live in Padiham (Lancashire UK - Latitude - 53.801510), I wanted to know which Planisphere would be best for them to get me.

So throw your suggestions this way and I can tell them which one to buy me.

Cheers

John

[callisto]

Here is a couple  

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/david-chandler-night-sky-planisphere.html

https://www.firstlightoptics.com/books/david-chandler-night-sky-planisphere-cardboard.html

https://www.rothervalleyoptics.co.uk/collins-planisphere.html

Edited November 14, 2021 by callisto
change wording

[Louis D]

I'll second the Night Sky Planisphere recommendation.  I've had mine for 23 years, and it has held up very well.  Here are recent scans of the front (north) and back (south) sides of my large plastic version for 20°-30°N latitude:

[Gfamily]

The important thing about a planisphere is to make sure you get one for the right latitude range. I'd expect most sold here to be correct for UK, but there are places that sell for other regions, and it'll be worth being specific. NB, the one that Louis D has is for a much lower latitude range (20-30 degrees) than us, so wouldn't be great, the one from FLO in Callisto's link is ideal.

I bought one for our daughter when she was out in New Zealand that would be useless here.

I like the Philips planisphere, as this gives the common names for the brighter stars, and that's a quick and easy way to learn them, as many charts just give the Bayer designations.

Don't go for the 'glow in the dark' one though, that's just a gimmick you don't need (IMO, YMMV of course!) 

[JAG007]

Yes i saw that there were various ones for northern and southern hemispheres as well as different Latitude, thats why i listed mine in the original post. i wanted to make sure i was getting the correct one and suitable for myself.

[Gfamily]

Here's a view of the Philips planisphere so you can see how it looks - I think I prefer the white on black appearance, but then, I've not used a blue on white version so who knows.

[JAG007]

4 minutes ago, Gfamily said:

Here's a view of the Philips planisphere so you can see how it looks - I think I prefer the white on black appearance, but then, I've not used a blue on white version so who knows.

 

[JAG007]

this looks really good i like it, where is this one available from?

[Gfamily]

1 hour ago, JAG007 said:

this looks really good i like it, where is this one available from?

It's often available from The Works. 

Alternatively, at somewhere like The Widescreen Centre

https://www.widescreen-centre.co.uk/philips-planisphere-latitude-515-north.html

Edit, just spotted they're out of stock there. Sorry

Edited November 14, 2021 by Gfamily