AstroMedia: The Table Planetarium

AstroMedia: The Tabletop Planetarium

The Classic
This type of classical armillary sphere has been used as a standard instrument for observer-centred astronomy for over 2,000 years. With the tabletop planetarium, the movements of the sun, moon, planets and stars above and below the horizon can be shown and understood, for every day of the year and for every place on earth.

Convincing Mechanics
The meridian is adjustable to all latitudes from the North Pole to the South Pole. The ecliptic shows all the yearly positions of the sun, with date and degree scales and the ranges of the zodiac constellations and signs. The hour ring displays the True Local Time, the lengths of the day and night, and the twilight hours. Along the moving lunar orbit you can see the wandering nodes and the areas where solar and lunar eclipses take place. The planetary spheres can also be moved as desired.

With book screws, the rings and the stand of the tabletop planetarium can be assembled so that it can be disassembled and reassembled at any time.

This is what you still need for an assembly

a cutting pad

a sharp cutter knife

a good all-purpose glue

some fine sandpaper

sharp scissors

a few clothes pegs

coloured felt-tip pens or opaque paints for painting the planetary spheres

a gold and silver paint stick

Note: Please decide before you start building if you want to choose to glue the tabletop planetarium permanently or assemble it in such a way that it can still be taken apart.

optional: a screwdriver to tighten the separately available book screws.