Indoor Constellations

It can be hard to find constellations, since there are so many stars out there and you have to find just the right ones, and connect them in your head, and think "Hmm, is this Bootes the shepherd or Leo the lion?" It can also be dangerous to go outside at night, especially if you live in a big city. That is why I am here with my next Instructable, explaining how I made a constellation appear on my wall! Let's get on with it!

A pencil

An old cardboard box. I used an old Amazon box.

A Mighty Bright

Diagram of whatever constellation you want to make

Something to prop the "constellation box" on. I used a Pampers wipes box and my space book.

First, as shown in picture 1, take out your pencil and poke holes in the cardboard box. Make sure to poke the holes on the inside of the box, as that will be easier. Look at your diagram for reference. I'm making Bootes, the shepherd. He is a shepherd said to protect the stars from the Great Bear. I used a great space book called Stars and Planets by Dennis Ashton, since it has lots of diagrams of constellations. Poke the holes according to where the stars are in your diagram. You could even create your own constellation! When you're done, it should look a little like pictures 2 and 3.

Now to set it up. Put the constellation box on top of another box. Clip the Mighty Bright to the bottom flap and turn it on, full brightness. My Pampers box wasn't tall enough for the full constellation to show up on the wall, so I used my Stars and Planets book to add a little extra height. Your Mighty Bright should have a gooseneck, so you can adjust how close the bulb part is to the box. Make it as far away from the stars (holes) as possible or else the stars on the wall will be too big. Now for the fun part! Scroll down to the next step to see!

Ready to see your constellation on the wall? Okay! Let's go! Turn the lights off and if you have a window, close the blinds, curtains, shutters, whatever you have. This will make it dark enough to see your constellation. Go over by your constellation box and admire the stars! How does it work? The light from the Mighty Bright shines into the box, and it goes through the holes and onto the dark wall. This makes it look kind of like a constellation on the wall. You can zoom in the picture above and see if you can trace my "stars" to make Bootes the shepherd! Have fun "stargazing" inside your own house!

Thanks for reading.

-JakeAS