Planisphere
Star & Constellation finder
Planisphere Star has an innovative design with a Two Sided Disk. Side 1
has a detailed view of the night sky whilst the reverse features just
the brightest stars making it absolutely ideal for novice stargazers.
Another innovation is that, instead of using a rivet to hold the
apparatus together--covering up Polaris, the North Star--the map's
outer frame holds the star wheel in place, permitting an uninterrupted
view of the entire night sky. This also means that the star wheel can
be removed. Additional instructions and information about stars,
constellations and binocular objects can be found on the back side of
the frame. Simply turn a dial to match time and date and see what the
sky looks like at any particular moment. However, the problem with most
planisphere's is that the shape of constellation patterns near the
horizon is different on the map than in the sky. For example, the
constellation Scorpius (the Scorpion) is elongated on a typical
planisphere whereas on the Global Mapping Planisphere the distortion
has been greatly reduced by gradually increasing the map's scale in the
north-south direction.
Chart
of the Heavens
The ideal introduction to stargazing, these charts are simple to use at
any time of the year, anywhere in the world! Packed with information,
help and advice, as well as detailed instructions to help you get a
firm understanding of the Stars and Constellatons. The Chart of the
Heavens map set accurately depicts the night sky as it appears
everywhere in the populated world. With a little practice, stargazers
of all ages can use these charts to locate and learn the names of
stars, constellations and other fascinating objects in the heavens.Outstanding qualities include:
- An accurate, distortion-free view of the night sky as it appears anywhere in the populated world.
- A rectangular sky window in the cover that can be precisely adjusted to frame the viewing area.
- Symbols and representations to help find and identify constellations, bright stars, the Milky Way, star clusters, nebulae (gas clouds), variable stars and galaxies. See the inset diagram for a close-up example.
- Explanatory text, tables and illustrations covering a wide variety of fascinating astronomical topics using language that newcomers to astronomy will find easy to understand.