![]() Most “Northern Hemisphere” star charts can be used for the majority of the U.S. Star charts will generally give a range of latitudes over which they can be used. Also make sure that the chart is applicable for your given latitude. Thus because of this time and location dependence, when choosing the right sky chart, make sure you are either using an all-year planisphere or one that is applicable to your given season/time of the year. (The stars won’t randomly reconfigure each time we look up into the sky!) But it also means that we can record this celestial background onto a map and then use this map to find stars and constellations time and time again. (In reality, we are the ones rotating with the (relatively) constant stellar background.) This concept is important to remember because it means that with this rotation, the sky will look different depending on your location on Earth, as well as what season you are in. You can think of it as the stars being on a celestial sphere or globe, and from our perspective on a point inside the globe, the stellar background rotates around us. The most common star charts are planispheres (year-round) and monthly maps.īecause stars are so distant from us, their relative locations between each other seem to remain constant from our perspective on Earth. I’ll be covering how to use these basic charts today! There are also other, more advanced star charts that give information such as ascension and declination of celestial object that I won’t be covering at this time.īelow is a picture of my Pocket Star Finder (planisphere) as well as a monthly sky chart for November I printed (free charts for both Northern and Southern hemispheres can be found HERE). ![]() You can have an all-year planisphere that rotates for your specific day/time, a seasonal chart (Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter), or a monthly chart. A star chart can come in a few different forms. What is a star chart? Simply put, a star chart is a map of the night sky, one in which the major stars and constellations are drawn out. But you can also download a free star chart each month and print it out to take with you!. – I have a pocket star chart that I take with me camping that is good for the whole year round. After reading this article (and with a little practice on your own), you should feel comfortable going out at night and finding your favorite constellations. If you’ve ever wanted to navigate the night sky, this post is for you! Today I’m sharing how to use a star chart.
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