Star Finder

Star maps like the SC001 and SC002 provide excellent displays of the relative positions of the stars on the celestial sphere, but can't easily tell us where those stars can be found in our night sky. Sky maps tell us where the stars are in the sky at a given location and time, but since our view of the celestial sphere varies by location, date, and time-of-day, no one such sky map can tell us what is in our night sky.

Star Finders (like Edmund Scientific's Star and Planet Locator) attempt to show us the sky at all times for locations "near" a given latitude (for our star finder: 40°). Since the stars rise and set (changing what's in our sky), such star finders must be adjustable for time. (Moving to a different location on the globe also changes your sky. The star finder can't adjust for this: you must buy a new finder suitable to your new latitude.)

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