Make your own planisphereDominicFordApril2014Aplanisphereisasimplehand-helddevicewhichshowsamapof whichstarsarevisibleinthenightskyatanyparticulartime. Byrotatingawheel, itshowshowstarsmoveacrosstheskythroughthenight, andhowdierentconstellationsarevisibleatdierenttimesofyear.Usingthematerialsavailableonthiswebpage,youcanmakeyourownplanisphereoutofpaperorcardboard.Whatyouneed TwosheetsofA4paper,orpreferablythincard. Scissors. Asplit-pinfastener. Optional: onesheet oftransparent plastic,e.g. acetatedesignedforusewithoverheadprojectors. Optional: Alittleglue.InstructionsStep1Planispheres lookslightlydierent dependingonwhereyoulive. Theplanisphere prepared in this document is designed for use anywhere on Earth which iswithin a few degrees of latitude 50N . If you live elsewhere, you can nd alternativeversionspreparedforanyotherlatitude,whichareavailablefromhttp://in-the-sky.org/planisphereStep 2 Print the pages of at the back of this PDF le, showing the starwheel andthebodyoftheplanisphere,ontotwoseparatesheetsofpaper,ormorepreferablyontothincard.Step 3 Carefully cut out the star wheel and the body of the planisphere. Also cutouttheshadedgreyareaoftheplanispheresbody, andifyouhaveit, thegridoflineswhichyouhaveprintedontotransparentplastic. Ifyouareusingcardboard,youmaywishtocarefullyscorethebodyoftheplanispherealongthedottedlinetomakeiteasiertofolditalongthislinelater.MAKEYOUROWNPLANISPHERE 2Step4 The star wheel has a small circle at its center, and the planispheres bodyhasamatchingsmallcircleatthebottom. Makeasmallhole(about2mmacross)ineach. Ifapaperdrill istohand,theseareideal,otherwiseuseacompasspointandenlargetheholebyturninginacircularmotion.Step5Slot asplit-pinfastener throughthemiddleof thestarwheel, withthehead of the fastener against the printed side of the starwheel. Then slot the body ofthe planisphere onto the same fastener, with the printed side facing the back of thefastener. Foldthefastenerdowntosecurethetwosheetsofcardboardtogether.Step6(Optional)Ifyouprintedthenal pageofthePDFleontoasheetofplastic, youshouldnowstickthisgridoflinesovertheviewingwindowwhichyoucutoutfromthebodyoftheplanisphere.Step7Foldthebodyoftheplanispherealongthedottedline,sothatthefrontofthestarwheelshowsthroughthewindowwhichyoucutinthebody.Congratulations,yourplanisphereisnowreadyforuse!HowtouseaplanisphereTurnthestarwheel until youndthepointarounditsedgewheretodaysdateismarked, andlinethispoint upwiththecurrent time. Theviewingwindownowshowsalloftheconstellationsthatarevisibleinthesky.Go outside and face north. Holding the planisphere up to the sky,the stars markedatthebottomoftheviewingwindowshouldmatchupwiththosethatyouseeintheskyinfrontofyou.Turntofaceeastorwest, androtatetheplanispheresothatthewordEastorWestisatthebottomof thewindow. Onceagain, thestarsatthebottomoftheviewingwindowshouldmatchupwiththosethatyouseeintheskyinfrontofyou.Ifyouprintedthegridofaltitudeandazimuthlinesontotransparentplastic,theselinesletyouworkouthowhighobjectswill appearinthesky, andinwhichdirec-tion. Thecirclesaredrawnataltitudesof10,20,30...80degreesabovethehorizon.Forreference, adistanceof tendegreesroughlyequatestoahand-spanatarmslength. Thecurvedlinesarevertical linesconnectingpointsonthehorizonuptothepointimmediatelyaboveyourhead. Theyaredrawninthecardinal directionsS,SSE,SE,ESE,E,etc.LicenseLikeeverythingelseonIn-The-Sky.org,thisplanispherekitsis c DominicFord.However, everything onIn-The-Sky.org is provided for the benet of amateur as-tronomers worldwide, and you are welcome to modify and/or redistribute any of thematerial onthiswebsite,underthefollowingconditions: (1)Anyitemthathasanassociatedcopyrighttextmustincludethatunmodiedtextinyourredistributedversion, (2) You must credit me, Dominic Ford, as the original author and copyrightc2014DominicFord. DistributedundertheGNUGeneral PublicLicense,version3.Documentdownloadedfromhttp://in-the-sky.org/planisphere/MAKEYOUROWNPLANISPHERE 3holder, (3) You may not derive any prot from your reproduction of material on thiswebsite,unlessyouarearegisteredcharitywhoseexpressaimistheadvancementofastronomicalscience,oryouhavethewrittenpermissionoftheauthor.c2014DominicFord. DistributedundertheGNUGeneral PublicLicense,version3.Documentdownloadedfromhttp://in-the-sky.org/planisphere/MAKEYOUROWNPLANISPHERE 4AndromedaAntliaAquariusAquilaAraAriesA u r i g aBo otesCa e l umC a m e l o p a r d a l i sCancerCanesVenaticiC a n i sMa j o rCani sMi norCapricornusCassiopeiaCentaurusCepheusCetusC o l u m b aComaBerenicesCorona AustralisCoronaBorealisCorvusCraterCygnusDelphinusDracoEquuleusEr i danusFornaxGe mi niGrusHerculesHorol ogi umHydraIndusLacertaLeoLeoMinorL e p u sLibraLupusLynxLyraMicroscopiumMo n o c e r o sNormaOphiuchusO r i o nPegasusPerseusPhoenixP i c t o rPiscesPiscisAustrinusPuppi sPyxisSagittaSagittariusScorpiusSculptorScutumSerpensSerpensSextansTaur usTelescopiumTriangulumUrsaMajorUrsaMinorVelaVirgoVulpeculaJANUARYFEBRUARYMARCHAPRILMAYJ U N EJULYAUGUSTSEPTEMBEROCTOBERNOVEMBERDECEMBER102031102028102031102030102031102 030102031102031102030102031102030102 031Theplanispherescentral starwheel, whichshouldbesandwichedinsidethefoldedholder.c2014DominicFord. DistributedundertheGNUGeneral PublicLicense,version3.Documentdownloadedfromhttp://in-the-sky.org/planisphere/C u t o u t t h i s s h a d e d a r e a w i t h s c i s s o r s .I t w i l l b e c o m e a v i e w i n g w i n d o w t h r o u g h w h i c ht o l o o k a t t h e s t a r w h e e l b e h i n d .WESTSOUTHEASTN O R T H5PM6PM7PM8PM9PM10PM11PM1AM2AM3AM4AM5AM6AM7AMP L A N I S P H E R E 5 0N1T u r n t h e s t a r w h e e l u n t i l y o u n d t h ep o i n t a r o u n d i t s e d g e w h e r e t o d a y sd a t e i s m a r k e d , a n d l i n e t h i s p o i n t u pw i t h t h e c u r r e n t t i m e . T h e v i e w i n gw i n d o w n o w s h o w s a l l o f t h e c o n s t e l -l a t i o n s t h a t a r e v i s i b l e i n t h e s k y .2G o o u t s i d e a n d f a c e n o r t h . H o l d i n gt h e p l a n i s p h e r e u p t o t h e s k y , t h e s t a r sm a r k e d a t t h e b o t t o m o f t h e v i e w i n gw i n d o w s h o u l d m a t c h u p w i t h t h o s et h a t y o u s e e i n t h e s k y i n f r o n t o f y o u .3T u r n t o f a c e e a s t o r w e s t , a n d r o -t a t e t h e p l a n i s p h e r e s o t h a t t h e w o r d E a s t o r W e s t i s a t t h e b o t t o m o ft h e w i n d o w . O n c e a g a i n , t h e s t a r sa t t h e b o t t o m o f t h e v i e w i n g w i n d o ws h o u l d m a t c h u p w i t h t h o s e t h a t y o us e e i n t h e s k y i n f r o n t o f y o u .Uncherche-etoiles est unaccessoiredepochesimplefournissant unecartedesetoilesvisiblesdansleciel `auninstantdonne. Aumoyendundisquerotatif, ilmontre comment les etoiles se deplacent dans le ciel pendant la nuit et la mani`eredontdierentesconstellationssontvisiblesselonlaperiodedelannee.Dansleciel nocturne, lesconstellationsaccomplissentunerevolutionautourdesp oles celestes toutes les 23heures et 56minutes. Lideederepresenter lecielnocturne`aplatsouslaformedunecartequelontournepourimiterlarotationdu ciel date de lastronome grec de lAntiquite Hipparque (150 av. J.-C. env.). Lefaitquecetterotationseectueenquatreminutesdemoinsquecequedureunejourneesigniequelesetoilessel`eventquatreminutesplust otchaquejour, ouunedemi-heureplust otchaquesemaine. Toutaulongdelannee, denouvellesconstellationsdeviennentvisiblesdansleciel avantlaurore,etdisparaissentdanslecrepusculeenndejournee.F o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n , s e e h t t p : / / i n - t h e - s k y . o r g / p l a n i s p h e r e c D o m i n i c F o r d 2 0 1 4 .Formoreinformation,seehttp://in-the-sky.org/planisphere cDominicFord2014.MAKEYOUROWNPLANISPHERE 6GLUEHEREGLUEHEREGLUEHEREG L U E H E R EThisgridoflinescanoptionallybeprintedontotransparentplasticandgluedintothe cut out window in the planispheres body to show the altitudes of objects in thesky,andtheirdirections.c2014DominicFord. DistributedundertheGNUGeneral PublicLicense,version3.Documentdownloadedfromhttp://in-the-sky.org/planisphere/