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Asia-Pacific Forum
on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 14, Issue 1, Article 9 (Jun., 2013) |
The use of planisphere to locate planets
Ping-Wai KWOK
Department of Science and Environmental Studies, The Hong Kong Institute of Education, Tai Po, HONG KONG
E-mail: pwkwok@ied.edu.hk
Received 9 Mar., 2013
Revised 20 Jun., 2013
Planisphere is a simple and useful tool in locating constellations of the night sky at a specific time, date and geographic location. However it does not show the planet positions because planets are not fixed on the celestial sphere. It is known that the planet orbital planes are nearly coplanar and close to the ecliptic plane. By making reference to the rise or set time of the planets, the planisphere can in fact be used to locate the planets in the sky as well. This method helps students to rectify the misconception about the positions of the planets in the night sky and promotes a deeper understanding of the planet orbital motions from a topocentric view.
