Customer Reviews

The Night Sky 20°-30°N (Large) Star Finder

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It is very detailed. As it says, it's very similar to the stars you actually see in the sky.

It works as follows: there is an outter dial with the days of the year, and an inner dial with the hours of day. By aligning them, it is easy to see the stars that are on the sky at any day (night) and hour.

One side faces North and the other side faces South. It has the star coordinate system (the one in hours and degrees), so you can find planets, if you have a table that tells you where to look.

I think you should complement this with a book, such as "40 Nights to Knowing the Sky", in order to know what you are seeing.

Having used planispheres for over 40 years, I was very interested when I first saw David Chandler's "The Night Sky". I found it to be the easiest to use, easiest to see and most accurate "sky dial" I had ever used. I can recommend this excellent planisphere to beginner, amateur and professional astronomers alike.

The first and best star chart for viewing the south sky with low distortion! I highly recommend it!

The Night Sky is not just another planisphere. I think The Night Sky is the finest and easiest to use star finding aid in existence. --Jack Internationally via satellite,the Armed Services Network, NASA C.O.R.E. and USIA WORLDNET

you don't need a magnifying glass to read it. i'm glad to have it. helpful. has a new feature i haven't seen before. looking north is on one side and looking south is on the flip side. it's a sky chart that is closest to our latitude.

The Night Sky for this latitude was useful for me even though I don't live at these locations. In the late 1970's I needed to see how the sky looked from the southern US. This was useful as I was writing articles from their perspective. Since I couldn't travel southward, I used the Night Sky and saw how the sky would look from the southern US. I later learned the Night Sky is very accurate as I received positive responses from my articles.

I'm taking up backyard astronomy. So far I just use binoculars, maybe I'll go to a proper telescope later. Finding your way around the constellations is a daunting task for beginners. Enter the star finder. The proper term is planisphere. It's a chart of the night sky. It is adjustable for date and time so that you can locate the major star formations and it is quite useful. I use mine frequently. The one thing I'd fault it for is that it needs better instructions. However, you can find extensive instructions on the web.

Now, let me tell you something that very few people know and that I only learned the hard way. Planispheres are constructed for specific latitudes. This one covers a band from 20 to 30 degrees north latitude. It is useful in Florida where I live as well as Texas. It would be of limited use for someone in oh, say Virginia and none at all in Massachusetts. There you would need a planisphere for 30 to 40 degrees north latitude. It is a very important distinction. So, if you decide to buy one, first find out the latitude where you live (you can find it on the Wikipedia page for your home state), then order the specific one for that latitude. It will save you a lot of headaches later

With a planisphere in your pack, during the night, you will ALWAYS know the where the cardinal directions are. As long as you make sure to never get lost, you will always generally know in what direction you need to go with this, without the aid of a compass. If you make it a habit to always look up and use a planisphere with dedication, you can quickly become so familiar with your direction/location on Earth in relation to the Heavens, that you should always and easily be able to navigate without depending on anything else.

I would have liked a small pamphlet/book to accompany this with some quick instructions, etc. As seemingly easy to use and user friendly, I still have quite a few questions on its application. :o/

They work great. Easy to read using a red filter so as not to mess up your night vision. Just remember to pick the correct one for your area or wherever you are going to view the sky. For Florida you need the 20 to 30 degree N one.