Site Layout

This site comprises a set of welcome pages and five sets of "Finder Chart" pages used to show the location of the planets on the first and fifteenth of each month.

The welcome pages describe the site layout, provide the phases of the moon for the time period of interest, and provide general information for locating each of the planets (except Pluto). I've also included some notes on my experiences and some subjects of general interest.

Each set of Finder Charts includes a menu at the left that provides links to:

• A table containing rise, transit, set times for the Sun, the Moon and seven planets (no Pluto),
• An orrery, which provides a view looking at the solar system from "above" (the North) and shows the planets' positions in their orbits around the sun for about a two week period. I've added a brief summary of the planets positions for the period.
• Images that show the sky at different times of the night (or morning) in order to show the planets' locations.
• Detailed charts for finding Uranus and Neptune, if they are visible.

The detailed Uranus and Neptune charts use a mouse roll-over technique to zoom in from a wide field of vew (fov) to a smaller one.

• The Uranus charts zoom in from a 20 degree fov (stars shown to magnitude 7 and labeled to magnitude 3) to a 10 degree fov (stars shown to magnitude 8 and labeled to magnitude 4).
• The Neptune charts zoom from a 20 degree fov (stars shown to magnitude 7 and labeled to magnitude 3) to a 5 degree fov (stars shown to magnitude 9 and labeled to magnitude 5). If you can see all the stars in this chart, you can see Neptune, which is about one magnitude brighter than the dimmest stars.

Updated on 2005-03-04