Southern Hemisphere Guide to the Stars

Want to learn your way around the night sky? Use a star chart, not your cell phone or computer. This series of "planespheres" are sturdy, easy to read, and a perfect companion to any digital application, manual or goto telescope, and a must-have for all new astronomers.I brought a few to rural Tanzania where they are used in East Africa's first dedicated astronomical observatory. One of the best purchases I made! I'll bring a half dozen more to distribute to schools there, later this year. Thank you for continuing to make an analog product in a digital world!

Glows in the dark. It rotates to give you the time of the year. I got it for friends who live south of the equator (different stars there than north of the equator). The only problem is that the distances listed are in miles, which nobody uses south of the equator.

The information and the constellation maps and layout is quite good. It is reminisant of the circular one sky window Phillips type I used for many years. However one gripe is the lack of even faint 30 degree declination and 3 hour Right Assention lines. This makes it slightly harder for beginners to relate the planisphere to star charts such as Nortons star Altas or the Cambridge Star atlas. It does have the 3 hour RA markings but these are hidden below the sky window graphic. The 4 hour offest of midnight and months also is interesting in that it makes it slightly easier to read/use as most first users would only observe mainly in the early evening after evening twilight. Most planispheres have midnight at the top of the window.

Very cool lightweight throw-in-your-bag device to make interest when you're in the Southern hemisphere and wondering what you are looking at. It is plastic but I'm not really sure how much it would react to moisture. It didn't seem to mind being thrown in a backpack for a month and still looks brand new. Liked it so much I bought a big Northern hemisphere one for the back porch at home.

Wisconsin (USA) kid goes to Australia & New Zealand and wants to see the Southern Cross. This makes it SO EASY!! Really enjoyed the night skies on our trip, and it takes up virtually no space/weight in a suitcase. LOVE it!

I am in 35 degrees latitude it seems a big sky at first glance,but it take time to know all the constellations and star names ,very useful and well made .Once you know how to work with it is esasy and funny

Easy to use and view because of its larger size. The material will stand-up to the humidity of tropical climates, too. That the guide shows the approximate locations of larger star clusters, etc. is a bonus for casual and "serious" traveling observers using binoculars or small scopes. You can leave the more detailed star charts at home and still find plenty of interesting objects to view.

Not quite as easy to use as I expected, but none the less is quite adequate.