Moveable Planisphere of the Heavens at Every Minute

Description

A planisphere is a portable device designed to aid in the study of stars and constellations visible in the night sky at any given date and time, generally for a particular location. This particular planisphere, created by Henry Whitall in 1862, depicts a dark blue sky with the constellations, centered on the latitude of Philadelphia. The moveable planisphere is to Astronomy the same as the map to Geography.

Object Information

Date Created:

ca. 1862

Local ID:

FI Catalog # 6912 A

Collection:

The Franklin Institute Astronomy Collection

Count:

1

Citation:

Moveable Planisphere of the Heavens at Every Minute (FI Catalog # 6912 A) from the collections of The Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, PA. USA

Dimensions:

38.1cm diameter

Creator(s):

Henry Whitall

Materials:

cardboard, metal

Classification:

T&E For Science & Technology, Astronomical T&E

Rights:

Fair Use for educational purposes

Appears In

Resource Kit
The Franklin Institute

Treading Among the Stars: How We’ve Found Our Way

Long before there were advanced technologies available for studying the sky, people devised ways of depicting the sun, moon, planets, and stars in relation to the Earth to figure out how our planet fit into the vast universe. Our method of exploring the night sky has grown to now include actual trips into space, even visiting another celestial body in person. But before technology made direct exploration possible, we had to use remote methods to map the expanse we could see from Earth.

Created by: The Franklin Institute

Grade 3-8