Re: [Utah-astronomy] End of the Planisphere?
I still teach my high school students how to use a planisphere (most have never seen one!). Once they get the hang of it, they seem to enjoy it, too. There are lots of things you can do easily on a planesphere that might be more difficult on an iphone such as predicting what time a constellation will rise on a certain date, or when a certain constellation will be highest in the night sky. I always introduce my Edmund Scientific planispheres to the students by telling them I got them really cheap because of a misprint getting east and west reversed! Some always catch on to my teasing when we finally put them overhead and they notice that east and west are correct. Concepts such as zenith, circumpolar, and meridian are easily taught with planispheres. I buy them in boxes of 25 for about $50 (plus another $10 shipping) for my astronomy classes, which means I can let every student check out their own. It will be a few years before iphones get that cheap. By the way, as I point out constellations and stars with my green laser at star parties, it's always fun to ask those with iphones how I'm doing. They make great backups when I have a senior moment and forget a name. Wayne A. Sumner Math/Physics/Astronomy/Engineering Boy's Tennis Coach Northridge High School Davis School District (801) 402-8610
Patrick Wiggins 02/27/11 4:36 PM >>> As much as us old timers complain about it, it is the way of the future.
And certainly not just in astronomy. Light aircraft are now being sold with iPads built into the console replacing old fashioned "steam gague" instruments and the FAA recently approved using iPads to replace paper charts even in big aircraft (one airline exec reported replacing all the paper charts in his airplanes with iPods will remove about 50 pounds of charts and binders from each aircraft). I'm not thrilled about having computer screens glaring at true dark sky sites. But I have to admit that they do work well so, as with any other illuminated device, as long as they are shielded I'm ok with them. patrick On 27 Feb 2011, at 12:06, Jay Eads wrote:
I'm kinda of on an astronomy kick since the weather continues not to be good for visual observing. So I just got done reading an article that talks of learning the constellations and the article got me thinking. I learned the constellations with a planisphere and from time to time I will still use one. However, in the article the author talks how he had a group of novice astronomy students out and each had a copy of the Edmund's Scientific Planisphere. Some also had SkySafari, StarMap and Distant Suns on their cell phones and they found the constellations and objects far quicker than those using the planisphere. Thus the author came to the conclusion that cell phones and apps are probably on the verge of replacing the planisphere as the tool used for finding constellations and other deep sky objects, especially for the younger generation. One of my observing friends is in his 20's and he uses Distant Suns in the field all the time. So the question I ask is do you use a traditional planisphere (and I could say atlas since some of these aps go down quite deep) or are you still an old book, atlas, planisphere type of guy? It also leads to an interesting thought which is what will be the tools of the amateur astronomer say in 20 or 30 years?
-- Jay Eads
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Personally, I'm an, I like "all of the above" person, i.e. laptop, iPod, planisphere. Like Wayne, I bought a box of 25 of the Edmund planispheres and I've been giving them out to my nieces and nephews for birthday presents. Clear skies, Dale.
-----Original Message----- From: utah-astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com [mailto:utah- astronomy-bounces@mailman.xmission.com] On Behalf Of Wayne Sumner Sent: Sunday, February 27, 2011 7:20 PM To: utah-astronomy@mailman.xmission.com Subject: Re: [Utah-astronomy] End of the Planisphere?
I still teach my high school students how to use a planisphere (most have never seen one!). Once they get the hang of it, they seem to enjoy it, too. There are lots of things you can do easily on a planesphere that might be more difficult on an iphone such as predicting what time a constellation will rise on a certain date, or when a certain constellation will be highest in the night sky. I always introduce my Edmund Scientific planispheres to the students by telling them I got them really cheap because of a misprint getting east and west reversed! Some always catch on to my teasing when we finally put them overhead and they notice that east and west are correct. Concepts such as zenith, circumpolar, and meridian are easily taught with planispheres. I buy them in boxes of 25 for about $50 (plus another $10 shipping) for my astronomy classes, which means I can let every student check out their own. It will be a few years before iphones get that cheap. By the way, as I point out constellations and stars with my green laser at star parties, it's always fun to ask those with iphones how I'm doing. They make great backups when I have a senior moment and forget a name.
Wayne A. Sumner Math/Physics/Astronomy/Engineering Boy's Tennis Coach Northridge High School Davis School District (801) 402-8610
Patrick Wiggins 02/27/11 4:36 PM >>> As much as us old timers complain about it, it is the way of the future.
And certainly not just in astronomy.
Light aircraft are now being sold with iPads built into the console replacing old fashioned "steam gague" instruments and the FAA recently approved using iPads to replace paper charts even in big aircraft (one airline exec reported replacing all the paper charts in his airplanes with iPods will remove about 50 pounds of charts and binders from each aircraft).
I'm not thrilled about having computer screens glaring at true dark sky sites. But I have to admit that they do work well so, as with any other illuminated device, as long as they are shielded I'm ok with them.
patrick
On 27 Feb 2011, at 12:06, Jay Eads wrote:
I'm kinda of on an astronomy kick since the weather continues not to be good for visual observing. So I just got done reading an article that talks of learning the constellations and the article got me thinking. I learned the constellations with a planisphere and from time to time I will still use one. However, in the article the author talks how he had a group of novice astronomy students out and each had a copy of the Edmund's Scientific Planisphere. Some also had SkySafari, StarMap and Distant Suns on their cell phones and they found the constellations and objects far quicker than those using the planisphere. Thus the author came to the conclusion that cell phones and apps are probably on the verge of replacing the planisphere as the tool used for finding constellations and other deep sky objects, especially for the younger generation. One of my observing friends is in his 20's and he uses Distant Suns in the field all the time. So the question I ask is do you use a traditional planisphere (and I could say atlas since some of these aps go down quite deep) or are you still an old book, atlas, planisphere type of guy? It also leads to an interesting thought which is what will be the tools of the amateur astronomer say in 20 or 30 years?
-- Jay Eads
_______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com _______________________________________________ Utah-Astronomy mailing list Utah-Astronomy@mailman.xmission.com http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/utah-astronomy Visit the Photo Gallery: http://www.slas.us/gallery2/main.php Visit the Wiki: http://www.utahastronomy.com
Last few years, I prefer to print up the latest monthly chart from skymaps.com for a quick orientation (and reminder of what's up). It's a 1-sheet map, with another sheet of descriptions, that looks similar to a planisphere, has a number of deep-sky telescopic, binocular, and naked-eye objects plotted and referenced, including positions of the visible planets. And it's free. It makes for a very nice handout at star parties, with the website link included for future observing on their own, without them having to invest initially in star charts.
Somewhere I still have my original Edmund "Star and Satellite Path Finder" planisphere, with the planetary positions listed for 1966-69. Kind of fond of that one, tattered though it may be. These days I tote the Miller mini-planisphere. Only 5-1/2" in diameter, made of waterproof plastic, and thoughtfully displaying white stars on a black background. I only use the planisphere to note what's up at the moment, and since I know all the constellations visible from my latitude, I then turn to the appropriate atlas to refine my search if it's for an object I don't have memorized positionally. I use my old Skalnate Pleso atlas still (I had mine laminated over 30 years ago and it's still in excellent condition), as well as SA2K, Uranometria, and my favorite for going really deep, the Millenium Star Atlas.
participants (4)
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Chuck Hards -
Dale Hooper -
Richard Tenney -
Wayne Sumner