Introduction: Build Your Own Pin-Hole Planetarium
Have you ever wanted to stare at the star-lit night from the comfort of your bed? Reproduce nature's majesty with your own homemade planetarium and transform your ceiling into the night sky using a few electronic components and some common household materials. Follow these easy steps and you'll be seeing stars in no time.
Step 1: Step 1 - Required Materials
At the start of a project, it's important to put together a list of materials you will need. This project requires a few electronic components and a few things you may already have lying around the components you can get from Jameco.
- Metal bowl - this will be your planetarium dome
- Base, I used a microwave splatter guard (*note that the bowl and the base should be a good fit together (see photo below)
- Hammer
- A few nails
- A metal file
- Wooden block
- Soldering equipment
- High Power LED
- Toggle Switch
- Wall Adapter Power Supply
- Hook-up Wire
Step 2: Step 2 - Punching Holes in the Dome
There are a couple of ways to make your dome but I chose to do this very primitively. I had an extra hand help me with this step as I hammered a nail through the bowl into a wooden block, simple, yet effective. These holes should be relatively small since you want your projections to look like the actual night sky. Make sure to file down your dome afterwards as the punched holes can be sharp.
If you want to create constellations, print out a sheet that has the constellations and place the sheet over the bowl as you drive a nail through it.
http://www.heavens-above.com/skychart.aspx?SL=1&SN=1&lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspecified&alt=0&tz=CET
If you want to create constellations, print out a sheet that has the constellations and place the sheet over the bowl as you drive a nail through it.
http://www.heavens-above.com/skychart.aspx?SL=1&SN=1&lat=0&lng=0&loc=Unspecified&alt=0&tz=CET
Step 3: Step 3 - Prepare LED
Prepare the LED by soldering wire to its terminals.
Step 4: Step 4 - Connect Switch and Assembly
Step 4
Next I soldered the wire to the switch, attached it to the base and connected it to the power supply. I cut the end off of the Wall Adapter Power Supply so that I could connect one end to the switch and the other to the LED. For the best effect, it is important to make sure light doesn't escape from your enclosure except through the designated holes in the dome, so I covered my base with black paper.
Next I soldered the wire to the switch, attached it to the base and connected it to the power supply. I cut the end off of the Wall Adapter Power Supply so that I could connect one end to the switch and the other to the LED. For the best effect, it is important to make sure light doesn't escape from your enclosure except through the designated holes in the dome, so I covered my base with black paper.
Step 5: Add Dome
Place dome on top, turn off the lights and enjoy!
Troubleshooting Issues:
Make sure the LED isn't shorting on the enclosure's base.
Check to be sure your soldering is secure on terminal and switch.
Check for damaged components.
Troubleshooting Issues:
Make sure the LED isn't shorting on the enclosure's base.
Check to be sure your soldering is secure on terminal and switch.
Check for damaged components.