Low Budget Portable Planetarium
The Homestar Home Planetarium use to only be available in Japan, but now ThinkGeek is about to carry a version designed for the American market. What’s nice about this gizmo is that it can turn any space into a planetarium for the cost of about $160. In fact not only do I think this is the kind of gift to give to an astronomy fanboy (or fangurl) but it would be cool if folks started buying these to give to science teachers at your local school.
Here’s a description:
“The Homestar is the world’s first optical star planetarium for the home. Designed by the renowned star-dude Takayuki Ohira, the Homestar will make you feel like you are sailing through the cosmos. Just turn it on in a dark room (aimed at your wall or ceiling) and begin gawping. You can set the stars to move around based on which hemisphere you live in. You can set a nap timer (so the unit will shut off after 15, 30, or 60 minutes once you are asleep). You can even set a comet to randomly streak across the sky. If you randomly streaked across the sky, you’d be arrested for indecent exposure. Behold, the stars.”
