Make your own cardboard model planisphere

This repository contains Python scripts that can be used to produce a cardboard cut-and-glue kit to make your own model planisphere.

Introduction

A planisphere is a simple hand-held device which shows a map of which stars are visible in the night sky at any particular time. By rotating a wheel, it shows how stars move across the sky through the night, and how different constellations are visible at different times of year.

See https://in-the-sky.org/planisphere/index.php for more information, including detailed assembly instructions.

Getting started

To make planisphere models for all latitudes, at five degree intervals, run the shell script main_planisphere.sh. Bibek note: Changed few bits of default settings so it can render the planisphere at 2 degrees seperation Not really noticiable of small angles but can be useful if you want the precise point of your location

Caveat

Planispheres do not work well when used close to the equator. The scripts in this repository do not allow you to create planispheres for latitudes between 15°N and 15°S, as the celestial pole is too close to the horizon.

Author

This code was developed by Dominic Ford https://dcford.org.uk. It is distributed under the Gnu General Public License V3.