New - Glow-in-the-dark Plinisphere! the ever popular Philips Planisphere just got even better - you can now see the stars and constellations in total darkness without a torch!

As seen on Stargazing Live!

A practical and convenient hour-by-hour tracker of the stars and constellations. This invaluable tool has informed and educated generations of astronomers - (I have a battered and abused one that dates from the 1970s and it still gets regular use. James).

Click the link below to see our video tutorial on this great gadget:

Video tutorial for the Philip's Planisphere

The glow-in-the-dark planisphere is in two parts: the star map base and the rotating oval overlay, which can be separated by unclipping the stud in the middle. Hold the star map beneath a bright light for a short period just before you use it to make the stars and constellations glow. Then turn the oval panel to the required date and time to reveal the whole sky visible from your location. The map, by the well-known celestial cartographer Wil Tirion, shows stars down to magnitude 5.

Much quicker and convenient to use than planetarium software on a computer - the great strength of the Planishere is that it can be used outside and direct comparisons can be made holding the Planisphere up agaist the sky to identify stars and other targets. This new glow-in-the-dark version makes that process even easier as a light source is not required.

Ideal for identifying constellations, the Planishere is supplied with a useful table of data that gives the positions of Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn until 2020. Sunset and sunrise times can be predited as well as the rise,set and high transit time (the point when an object is highest in the sky and best placed for observation or imaging) of stars and other targets.