The Night Sky in a Shoe Box
Tuesday, December 2, 2008 4:21I know its been far too long since my last update, however we all need a break every once in a while.
According to the polls, a slight majority of readers wanted more posts on Astronomy, which honestly surprised me. So, I took a look at what I could do that would be fun, interesting, and relatively easy so readers at home could follow along.
I decided to use the concept of using LEDs (Light Emitting Diodes) to represent stars, and put that idea to the test. You can take any star constellation you wish, but I choose the Big Dipper because of its fame, and it could be done quickly and efficiently. I chose these little green LEDs because they don’t break or blow out as easily ans others, and they are extremely inexpensive. I bought them from Mouser Electronics (see them here) for $0.06 each, but that’s partly because I buy by the hundred.
You will need to solder for this project, so please follow the safety instructions here. I burned a hole through my rubber glove doing this project, so please, for your sake, do not skip the safety part.
So, let’s get started. You can print out any astronomy picture you want, but make sure you plan where you want to put the LEDs ahead of time. This makes constellations ideal, and many of the LED locations are already marked for you. Also, be sure that the LEDs are not too far away from each other, otherwise you will need to use additional wiring to connect the LEDs.
Glue your image onto the top of a shoebox, make sure you have plenty of room for the LEDs and wires. I tried to use the tip of my soldering gun to puncture holes in the box, however I ended up using my trusty dremel tool to drill the holes.
Place your LEDs inside the holes, facing outward. Be sure to test each LED before inserting them in, I ended up having to replace a few after I soldered, which can be a real pain.
Make sure each anode and cathode are aligned (positive and negative). You can do this easily by remembering to connect them from the short leds coming out of the LEDs’ bottom to the next LED’s long one. Short-to-long, otherwise it will not work at all. Before soldering, use a glue gun to make sure the LEDs will not fall out.
Solder the LEDs together one by one (remember short-to-long). Once again, please work with adequate protection against the fumes and the very hot soldering gun. As stated earlier, instructions can be found here.
I chose to use alligator clips to connect to batteries. Be sure to experiment with different power supplies based upon what LEDs you used and how many.
Now, you can package it all up into the original shoebox and flip it on.
Be sure to let me know what you want in future posts by voting on the poll!
16 Responses to “The Night Sky in a Shoe Box”
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Anonymous says:
December 2nd, 2008 at 5:22 pm
This is fantastic! It is both informative and artistic and would be fun for any age. Thanks!
JustaPerson says:
December 2nd, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Looks great! But are those green leds? Maybe white would be better suited. Of course, I might be seeing it wrong.
It might be interesting to do it slightly differently, by mounting the paper on thin cardboard, then making a hole for each star (with slightly bigger holes for the stars in the constellation). Then you could find a way of mounting the card halfway inside the box (or at the front). The leds would be mounted on the back of the card, facing the back of the box, so that the light could bounce off of the back of the box and light up all the stars. Just my little idea
JustaPerson says:
December 2nd, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Oops, just read why you didn’t use white leds. Must have missed it on my first read.
Ralph says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 1:42 am
Oh! This would be a perfect Chrisrtmas present from an older person to make for a younger person–like maybe a grandfather for a grandson, to make to stimulate the wonders and knowldedge of the universe. Thank you for this idea and the way to make it possible.
Anonymous says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 9:32 am
To avoid LEDs from burning out you should use a current limiting resistor.
Anonymous says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 3:16 pm
Ralph has a hard time spelling or using a keyboard, but his idea is right on. Thanks.
www.bwsciencelabs.com says:
December 3rd, 2008 at 3:35 pm
Yes, I know. Unfortunately for this project I just tried to use parts I already had. None of my resistors would have done the trick.
jean says:
December 6th, 2008 at 12:28 am
Awesome idea!
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