Planispheric Planetarium

 

Code Number: 8A10.30

Demo Title: Planispheric Planetarium

Condition: Fair

Principle: Stars of the Night Sky

Area of Study: Astronomy

Equipment: 

Small planetarium.

Procedure:

The planetarium works well if you understand its limitations.  Since it has a very low intensity light bulb the projected star patterns are very dim. Therefore this must be used in a very small room of approx. 9 ft diameter.  One of the plastic blow up bubbles in the sixth floor lab would work for this but since these have a small student capacity we don't deem this worthwhile to do in lecture.

References:

  • Peter Newbury, "Exploring the Solar System with a Human Orrery", TPT, Vol. 48, # 9, Dec. 2010, p. 573.
  • "Planetarium", Science Supplement (spring), Grolier Incorporated, 2003, p. 334. ISBN 0-7172-1575-X.
  • Janice VanCleave, "66. Box Planetarium", Astronomy for Every Kid: 1010 Easy Experiments that Really Work, p. 144.
  • Bobby Mercer, "Pringles Planetarium", Junk Drawer Physics, p. 112.
  • "Planetarium", Pike's Illustrated Catalogue of Scientific & Medical Instruments, 1984, p. 110.