Today I learned something new! I discovered what a Planisphere is! I also discovered that I had one of my own. 🪐

Yandanooka is a nonexistent town in wildflower country, also known for its brilliantly clear night skies.

You can camp at the Yandanooka Hall so we decided to stop there overnight and do some stargazing. …. and discover what a Planisphere is! Well, here it is!

As soon as I saw it I realised I had a small cardboard version that I had bought at the Charleville Planetarium in Queensland but I found it difficult to interpret so I don’t carry it with me anymore.

The idea is you spin the outer disc to line up with the date and time of night you are viewing the sky and the inner disc then identifies the constellations and planets visible at that time.

I was saved the angst of trying to interpret the night sky using the Planisphere when the clouds rolled in and covered every glimmer of starlight ✨ 😂

The Planisphere is probably the forerunner of the many apps available for mobile phones these days so I think the concept has been well and truly superseded by technology. I use one of these apps, particularly to identify planets that are often visible in the beautiful clear night skies of the outback.

So there you have it! The Planisphere at Yandanooka- perfect for stargazing in a cloudless sky!