Portable Planetarium

Portable Planetarium

WPS-1M (No.0001)

The most distinctive feature of the Watanabe planetarium is the fact that it can also serve as a celestial globe in lighted room, as its main part is made of the Watanabe's celestial globe. In the dark room, the apparatus can give the view of starry night sky, not only of Japan but also of the other countries of the world. On the celestial globe, graceful pictures, most of which are originated from the Greek myth, are drawn according to the ancient traditions. Besides these pictures, the celestial equator, circles of latitude, parallels of latitude, the ecliptic, sun's position corresponding to the each month, the path of pole due to the precessional motion and so on, are also drawn. Let us imagine that we seek for the constellation Cygnus among the projected images on the screen. Then all we have to do is find the picture of Swan on the celestial globe by the aid of flashlight, and see the corresponding stars on the screen. The other constellations can be also found in the similar way. Watanabe's planetarium is very durable and easy to handle. Teachers will have much benefits when they teach children about the constellations and astronomical objects of the sky, if they use this apparatus. By this planetarium, anyone can teach about the position and motion of the Sun, the Moon and planets, by projecting on the spherical screen with much facilities. This apparatus can be available when teachers want to show the following subjects.

(1) The constellations and their Diurnal Motions.

    On the celestial globe, all stars brighter than fifth magnitude are drawn. But in the projected images only the stars brighter than third magnitude are contained , so as to simplify the projected aspect and avoid confusions. Anyone can distinguish stars of first, second and third magnitude, and perceive the forms of each constellation. Therefore, it is very effective to teach about constellations of any seasons, its diurnal motion and their aspects at any seasons.

(2) The Visible Limit of the Sky at Any Place.

    We can change inclination of axis of the globe in wide range, Therefore, we can show easily sky of any place, such as that of arctic region, tropical zone and the south hemisphere, as well as that of Japan.

(3) Apparent Motion of the Sun.

    The position of the Sun on the ecliptic through a year can be shown easily, as well as those of the vernal and autumnal equinoxes and the summer and winter solstices. Therefore, teachers can show about the concept of the ecliptic, and the apparent motion of the sun relative to the constellations. Moreover, this apparatus can also show the seasonal changes of the sun-rise and sun-set azimuths, and of altitude on the meridian transit and of rising and setting angles of the sun relative to the horizon, at any place on the earth. Therefore, the children can most easily understand about these astronomical phenomena using this apparatus.

(4) The Seasonal Changes of Visible Constellations.

    As the sun moves along the ecliptic, the constellations visible in a certain times of a night, change from season to season. This phenomena can be shown by this apparatus with a simple procedure. In this way, teacher can also easily show about the revolutional motion of the Earth around the Sun, that is to say, the annual motion.

(5) The Apparent Motion of the Moon and Its Phase.

    As the most distinctive nature of this apparatus, we can show by a simple procedure the phase change of the Moon, for example, crescent, first quarter, gibbous, full moon, last quarter as the change of the position relative to the sun, through a year. Accordingly, we can show by the projected aspect, the relations between the Moon's phase and the time of setting and rising of the Moon and the changes of the full Moon is high in winter and low in summer.

(6) The Positions of Planets Relative to the Sun. (WPS-2A)

    This apparatus can show the fact that the elongations of the inner planets never exceed beyond some limits, and the Venus comes out as a brightest star in evening or in morning. Moreover, the opposition, the first and the last quadrature of a outer planet can be also shown.

We can send Promotion CD of Portable Planetarium if you need.

220,000yen