Andromeda
Galaxy
Alpheratz
CETUS
(The Whale)
Arct
uras
Spic
a
Reg
ulos
Altair
Antares
ERIDANUS
(The River)
LEPUS
(The Hare)
Orion
Nebula
Procyon
Castor
Pollux
GREAT
SQUARE
Using the Cosmic
Night Light
To turn on the cosmic night light, press the button
shown. Press the button again to turn off the light.
Care and Maintenance
Remove batteries when not in use for extended
periods. Keep Star Sphere clean with a soft cloth
and quality anti-static cleaner/polish. Never use
abrasive cleaners.
Bulb replacement:
Replacement bulbs are available at most electronics retailers. Light wand:
3.6v, 500 ma, Part No. LR00001.
1. Remove Star Sphere and light wand from base.
2. Push a paper clip into the small hole
directly above the on/off button. At the
same time, rotate light wand
counterclockwise to Star Sphere. Remove
it from Star Sphere (see Fig. 7).
3. Carefully pull old projection lamp out of
tip of light wand.
4. Insert replacement bulb into tip of light
wand (see Fig. 8). (Important: Be careful
not to bend prongs of the bulb.) Turn light
wand on to make sure bulb lights up, then
turn it off.
5. Reinsert light wand into Star Sphere.
Rotate light wand clockwise until it clicks
into place. This is important for accurate
date and time adjustments.
6. Place Star Sphere and light wand back into
base with light wand in its holder.
Night light
On/Off
The Constellations
Constellations are imaginary pictures created by connecting stars together with imaginary lines.
These "star patterns" were usually named after ancient Mesopotamian and Greek gods, heroes
and animals. Today's astronomers consider constellations as agreed-upon regions of the sky
containing groups of stars. There are 88 official constellations.
Each constellation can contain dozens, if not hundreds, of visible stars. The following star maps
show the brighter stars — the ones you see when looking for star groupings in the night sky.
The "connect-the-dot" lines will help you as you learn these constellations. You will also see the
mythological drawings of some of the constellations.
The constellations are divided into five different groupings; the stars in the northern sky and the
stars of each season. It's important to remember that the seasonal groupings are a general
guide. For example, winter constellations are not just visible during the winter months of
December, January and February. (Experiment with your Star Theater to discover why!) The
season refers to the time of year the group of constellations becomes easily visible in the night
sky after the Sun sets.
The seasonal groupings also help us understand the cycle of the sky. Because of the Earth's
annual orbit around the Sun, the stars in the night sky change over the course of a year. But due
to the fixed nature of the constellations, spring stars always follow the winter stars into the sky,
summer stars follow the spring stars, etc. Learning the brighter constellations from each season
will open the door to understanding the entire night sky.
The Moving Sky
The horizon ring is an important part of your planetarium. It divides the sky into two halves, the
visible and the nonvisible. In the course of 24 hours, all of the objects visible from a given
location on Earth seem to rise in the east and set in the west.
To see all the stars that are visible from the Northern Hemisphere, slowly rotate the light wand to
the left (westward) while the projection lamp is on. Do you notice that some stars around Polaris
never set while some of the stars that can be seen from the Southern Hemisphere (at the
opposite pole of the star sphere from Polaris) never rise in the Northern Hemisphere?
Just for practice, adjust your planetarium to project the stars visible in the evening of March 20,
which is about the first day of spring for us. Which constellations will be on the meridian (the arc
spanning across the sky from pole to pole)? Which constellations will be rising and which will be
setting? That’s easy! With the projection lamp off, set the date selector to March 20, and then set
the time ring to the time at which the Sun sets (about 6:30 PM). Turn off the room lights, turn the
projection lamp on, and see what constellations are up!
Push a paper
clip into this
hole to release
Star Sphere
Fig. 7
Projection
Lamp
Wand
Fig. 8
Projection
Lamp
Collar
10
11
Home Planetarium Projector
with Astronomy Software
Summary of Contents for Star Theater SE
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