EISCO Celestial Star Globe - 12" Globe Diameter - 17.5" Tall on Stand - Shows the Milky Way, Major Stars, Constellations Relative to Earth

Excellent.

This would have been a good product but the Earth inside the sphere was upside down. The sphere is made up of two halves that are joined together with what looks like a silicone gasket on the inside of the sphere at the celestial equator. This is finished with a band of clear tape on the outside of the sphere. A rod extends from one pole to the other which has threads on both ends with the Earth balanced in the middle of that rod. You can easily remove the sphere from the semi-meridian mounting arm and allow to rod to move more freely inside the sphere but without separating two halves of the sphere the earth is stuck inside and can't be removed. I chose to return this sphere and get a refund because for some reason Amazon wouldn't send a replacement (they only offered a refund). I would have given this a 4 star rating if the Earth was oriented properly. [Edit - The 2nd one of these I ordered was delivered and was correct this time. The first one I ordered was in a bigger generic box with some room to spare. The second one actually was packaged in a box from the original manufacturer that was labeled for this product with that inner box inside a larger generic box.] [Edit #2] The constellations are reversed and are displayed (from the outside of the sphere) as you would see them from inside the sphere. This is not how the photo of the product is shown (for example take a look at the big dipper in photo). I declare that to be false advertising so I am lowering my product review from 3 to 1 stars. I had some excitement for this product and was really looking forward to studying it. I will keep it because it is better than nothing but I am really disappointed.

Interesting concept, but the star locations are all backwards from the standpoint of a figure viewing the celestial sphere from the tiny globe in the center ( I suppose this is to be consistent with the star locations one sees when viewing star maps in astronomy books). Most disappointing is the lack of any legend for the symbols printed on the sphere, not to mention the lack of common star names in each constellation. Also frustrating is the fact that ecliptic is only marked very faintly with a thin line and is extremely difficult to see/locate easily. I keep going back and forth in my mind about whether to keep or return, since the globe wasn’t cheap.

The globe had everything I was wanting to show my class as we discussed the celestial sphere: visuals for things like the equator, ecliptic, Galactic equator / Milky Way, etc. However, some lines (like the ecliptic) are hard to see. One small problem I have with the globe is that the constellations are printed backwards. For example if you look through the globe (like in the picture), Orion is backwards, while it looks normal from the outside. There doesn't seem to be a better option at any similar price point, so at least it helps explain the concepts to my introductory astrophysics course.

This is a great semi-3d star chart. Nice addition to the study.

I really wanted this for an astronomy lesson I have planned, but will instead be returning it. It arrived with the hemispheres having separated (see photo). The inner protective layer had also bubbled up significantly on the southern hemisphere (see photo). Looks like a bit of a design flaw and something that is likely to happen over time. I was able to take the joining tape off, reposition the joining cuff and fix the first issue with some effort. I was willing to live with the second issue. Unfortunately, there remains a fatal flaw: the coordinate system on the sphere is actually backwards (see photo)! That is the stars and coordinate system are the mirror of what they should be, and what the Amazon photo shows (see photo). Impossible to fix or work around and something that will only increase confusion among my students! Don't know who was responsible for changing the orientation from the correct version, but I pity the teachers and students in classrooms that bought the new version and try to make sense of it!

I love this item great display

It's a cool product but arrived damaged twice for me. The second time I gave up and tried to fix the dents myself, which sort of worked.

Not what I had envisioned. Rather disappointed.

Está increíble!!

se puede mostrar con mucha facilidad el movimiento de la tierra y del cielo en la noche, localizar las constelaciones es fácil, y si agregamos un foco led la apariencia del día y el camino del sol en la estiptica.