Materials:- 2 sheets of 12 x 20 black museum board or something comparable.- A battery pack from Radioshack that hold 4 AA batteries. (total output 6V)- 1 (or 2) super bright LEDs. I used two of these (They are rated for about 3.15 to 3.99V and max 700mA)- Since these LEDs draw a lot of current, be sure to make a bundle of resistors in parallel to handle the current, or else things might catch on fire. One bundle of resistors for each LED. I used three 470ohm resistors plus one 4.7ohm. (you want something low around 4.7ohms as the resulting total value.
Shop for Star Projectors at Walmart.com. All Departments Auto & Tire Baby Beauty Books Cell Phones Clothing Electronics Food. Product Title Night Light Projector, LED Star Moon Lamp Rotation S. Average rating: 1 out of 5 stars, based on 1 reviews 1 ratings. Use a star projector in a fort. Build a fort out of furniture and blankets and light up the space with a star projector for a fun, intergalactic feel. Give one to new parents. A star projector can be enjoyed as a soothing accessory in a nursery for both babies and breastfeeding mothers. Leave one at the grandparents’ house.
Use any combination, just make sure your math is right.)- Optional – (If you want it to spin) A pretty torque-y dc motor with some kinda platform for the thing to sit on. I ran it at 3.3V, off of an independent power source.Tools:- laser cutter- soldering iron- hot glue gun. I'm pretty sure the average person doesn't have a laser cutter in their craft room.
Laser cutters run from a few hundreds of dollars to a few thousands depending on quality and power, meaning they're a huge investment and really expensive if used for only one or two projects. However, there are some companies that will lasercut parts for you and even others that have locations where you can use their laser cutter yourself. That being said, laser cutters aren't always an absolute necessity. While they may be invaluable in projects requiring precision and uniformity, I think there are a lot of cases where you could do without one. In this project, for example, you could always hand-cut the pieces and drill the holes yourself. The pieces might not fit together as well and it'd take more time, but it's definitely possible. Nice Instructable!
About the electronics, though. With three 470ohm resistors and one 4.7ohm, around 97% of the current is going to pass through the 4.7ohm, making the other three superfluous. Two pairs of 4.7ohm resistors wired series-parallel would give exactly 4.7ohms (tolerances aside) and split the current and power evenly. However, you'd still need high-power resistors and waste a lot of power and battery life generating heat. A simple constant-current source (can be just a NPN transister, an N-FET, and two resistors) would be better, or even an integrated switching current source like the LED2000DR ($2/ea. At Digikey, plus a few discrete components).
Minimizing the difference between the battery voltage and the LED voltage drop also helps. Love the idea, it is definitely going to be a crucial part of our spacement project.
We have made the star shell part and had to scale it down a bit to fit on a print out that I used but seems that it should still work. Our biggest hangup right now is the lighting. We aren't familiar with soldering and were wondering if you had other ideas for how to get it to be bright and crisp like yours. We tried a high watt light bulb and that doesn't do the trick and the 'stars' are not sharp. Any thoughts would be much appreciated, thanks!!
You’re probably thinking that star projectors are for children and an aid to help them get to sleep at night. Although this maybe true, there are a lots of models out there that are ideal for both toddlers and adults. Star gazers will truly love the experience that an indoor laser star projector can give you. With this list of the best star projectors currently on the market, you can gain a bit more knowledge when you go to buy one. Knowing the specification, features and what we’ve experience by testing them, it will make the buying process of a star projector that much easier.
There are quite a few different types star projectors on the market from portable to stationary star projectors, LED, laser and ones more suited to children. Enjoy your very own indoor laser light show in the comfort of your own home.
Here we have listed what we think are the best star projectors on the market, and of which you should consider when thinking about buying one.
Best Star Projectors For 2020 – Comparison Table
Product | Image | Features | Star Rating | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|
SOAIY Color Changing Led Night Light Lamp & Realistic Aurora Star Borealis Projector for Children and Adults (White) | 8 Light Projection Modes Realistic aurora borealis and nebular light | 4.3 out of 5 | $ CHECK OUT PRICES ON AMAZON | |
Kingtoys LED Blue Star Light Romantic Projector | Ideal for astronomy or astrology fans, romantics, kids. Comes with DC Adapter, Supporting Sheet and User Manual | 5 out of 5 | $$ CHECK OUT PRICES ON AMAZON | |
LBell Star Sky Night Light, Rotating Cosmos Star Projector | Powered by 4 x AAA batteries or USB cable Multi functional night light and star projector | 4.5 out of 5 | $ CHECK OUT PRICES ON AMAZON | |
Lazer Stars Indoor Light Show | Create thousands of stars for a private star-filled universe Includes built-in key hole for optional wall mounting | 3.7 out of 5 | $$$ CHECK OUT PRICES ON AMAZON | |
Sega Homestar Original Black - Home Planetarium - Star Projector | AC power - adapter included 2 Northern Hemisphere discs included, with and without constellations Additional discs available | 4.0 out of 5 | $$$ CHECK OUT PRICES ON AMAZON | |
Nat Geo: Starry Night Lantern | 2-in-1 lantern and star projector Turn the dual-mode switch while indoors to project a glowing field of stars Explorer Activity Guide | 3.8 out of 5 | $ CHECK OUT PRICES ON AMAZON | |
Cloud B Twilight Plush Toy, Purple Turtle | Within the soothing star pattern are 8 constellations Auto shut-off; 45 minutes sleep timer | 4.5 out of 5 | $$ CHECK OUT PRICES ON AMAZON | |
Colorful Romantic LED Cosmos Star Master Sky Starry Night Projector Bed Light Lamp | Powered by 3 pcs AA batteries(not included) or power cable. Good astronomy demo instrument | 4.0 out of 5 | $ CHECK OUT PRICES ON AMAZON | |
Backey Star Projector, Universe Night Light Projection Lamp | 6 different light modes A variety of projection film covers 3 AA batteries or USB cable for power | 4.3 out of 5 | $ CHECK OUT PRICES ON AMAZON | |
Le Petit Prince 'Touch Active, Easy Clean' Twilight Constellation Galaxy Round Projector Night Light | Touch Activated 4 different LED colour settings Designed For Children | 4.3 out of 5 | $ CHECK OUT PRICES ON AMAZON |
Best Star Projectors Reviews
SOAIY Color Changing Led Night Light Lamp & Realistic Aurora Star Borealis Projector for Children and Adults (White)
Can’t make the trip to Alaska to see the real Aurora Borealis? No problem! With the SOAIY Color Changing Led Night Light Lamp & Realistic Aurora Star Borealis Projector, you can bring the magic of the Aurora Borealis directly into your bedroom. The SOAIY star projector is designed for both children and adults and can project images on both the wall and the ceiling.
In addition to displaying a stunning rendition of the Aurora Borealis, the SOAIY projector also includes a built-in speaker and a slot to plug in devices such as the iPhone and iPod touch. Also included is the ability for the device to shut off after a set period and the capacity to project images in up to eight different lights.
Kingtoys LED Blue Star Light Romantic Projector
If you’re looking for a romantic evening under the stars without needing to go outside, you’ll want to check out the Kingtoys LED Blue Star Light Romantic Projector. This device is AC powered and comes with a power adaptor. It is suitable for use anywhere, but if you’re going to use it outdoors make sure it’s not raining as this star projector is not waterproof. None the less, the projection is great, lightens up kids parties, dorm rooms, bed rooms or cosy romantic nights in. The controls are really easy to use with three simple buttons. These control speed, the light function/rotation and LED cloud settings for background gas cloud-like effects to really bring the galaxy to life on your walls or star ceiling projection if you prefer to lay back and watch the stars above.
The Kingtoys LED Blue Star Light projector ships assembled with everything you need to get you started in the box. It has a sturdy, professional build quality and comes with the highest review rating possible on Amazon.
LBell Star Sky Night Light, Rotating Cosmos Star Projector
What the LBell Night Light Cosmos Star Projector lacks regarding accuracy, it more than makes up for in fun and function. While the LBell projector doesn’t display an accurate rendition of the nighttime sky like the Sega Homestar Planetarium projector, it instead offers a variety of different lighting, and timer modes along with large shapes. In addition, the LBell projector both rotates and can project images at a distance of over 12 feet. The 4 high-brightness LEDs found inside the device will help illuminate your room or create a warm, relaxing night light your kids will love. The device is also much smaller than other star projectors, letting you place it in a variety of locations.
Lazer Stars Indoor Light Show
At first glance, the Laser Stars Indoor Light Show Star Projector is your average run-of-the-mill star projector. It uses conventional batteries, projects thousands of stars and features a super bright LED light that will illuminate even the darkest room. However, where the Laser Stars Indoor Light Show Star Projector stands out is that you can mount it on any surface, including a wall. The base features a built-in keyhole that lets you attach it to nearly any wall, allowing you to project stars onto any surface, including the floor!
Sega Homestar Original Black – Home Planetarium – Star Projector
If you’re looking for a star projector that focuses more on learning than soothing, you’ll want to check out the Sega Homestar Home Planetarium Star Projector. This projector prides itself on accurately portraying the night sky and includes features such as:
- Projects 60,000 stars
- A shooting star feature
- Norther hemisphere with and without constellations
- Rotational movement, adjustable projection angle and focus
- 4 additional discs available for purchase
The Sega Homestar Planetarium is accurate allowing you to view the night sky as you would see it outdoors, making it a great teaching tool. With the constellation projection disc you can explore and explain astronomy and astrology to the kids. With the ability to project onto any surface, the only limits to using the Sega Homestar Planetarium Star Projector is your imagination. To round off this list of features is a 2 year warranty for customers in the USA.
Nat Geo: Starry Night Lantern
You get two functions in one with this star projector. It not only projects an incredible star show on to your walls and ceilings, but it also acts as a lantern that your child can carry around with them on night time expeditions of the toilet or to get a glass of milk.
This lantern is also ideal for camping trips with your kids as you can use it to project your very own night sky on the ceiling of your tent. There’s a really user friendly switch that can be flipped to change over functions. One minute it’s a star projector and then next, a really handy carry around lantern.
The lantern can light up a wide area so you can see quite clearly and safely where you are walking. You might be going on a night time walk around the garden with your kids, so its important to have a good light source so you can see where you are treading.
This lantern is exceptionally good both indoors and outdoors. With the lantern / star projector, you also get an explorer activity guide that your children will just love.
The lantern has 4 tiny LED bulbs that glow really bright, and provides not only an awesome star light show, but also a good light source coverage for the lantern function.
Battery life is pretty good. As its LED, it’s quite friendly on battery usage. Another potential use for this lantern is if you have a power cut, as it will easily be able to provide you and your family with an emergency light source.
Cloud B Twilight Plush Toy, Purple Turtle
A great little light show for small children.
This truly is one of the greatest things you can buy for your little ones. This star projector is one of the best-selling sleep aids for kids and is great for displaying calming stars on the ceilings and walls of nurseries and bedrooms. It just gives the whole environment a very relaxing vibe for children to be able to chill out in and get ready for sleep. You can use it to entertaining young children or provide you with a settle down / story ambience. It also helps to ease fears of the dark, which is worth the money alone!
Actually the star projector is so good that some adults will use it to chill out and enjoy the mesmerizing and high quality light effects that this cute little turtle gives off.
Simply place the star projector on a flat surface like the end of the bed or bedside table and it will project a complete starry night view, with actual real star constellations onto the ceiling and walls of your child’s room. It comes with three color options of blue, green, and amber which adds even more interest for your child. You also don’t have to worry too much about battery usage as this star projector has a timer that you can set to turn off. The star projector requires three AAA batteries which come with the product.
CHECK OUT PRICES ON AMAZONColorful Romantic LED Cosmos Star Master Sky Starry Night Projector Bed Light Lamp
The Cosmos Star Master Star Projector is a lightweight star projector designed to save you money; while the projector uses batteries, you can also opt to plug it directly into the wall as well using the built-in power cord. This star projector is highly customizable, featuring not only a variety of colors and bright LEDs but also letting consumers configure the device in accordance to the month so it can portray an accurate star chart.
The device outputs only a small level of power, so you don’t need to worry about an increase in your energy bill if you decide to use it as a night light. Unlike other star projectors on this list, no assembly is required to use the Cosmos Star Mastery Star Projector; once you take it out of the box, just plug it in or insert some batteries and enjoy the show.
Backey Star Projector, Universe Night Light Projection Lamp
The Backey Star Projector Night Light is a little different to the others we have looked at so far. To operate, the central LED light is covered by your choice of film to display a starry sky or a magical universe setting. With six lighting modes and three brightness settings, you can create the perfect atmosphere for either your kids bedroom or play room. The Backey Star Projector can be powered either via 3 AA batteries or you can plug it into a PC or console with the included USB cable. You also get the user manual and 2 year warranty in the box rounding off what is a fantastic star projector for kids.
Le Petit Prince “Touch Active, Easy Clean” Twilight Constellation Galaxy Round Projector Night Light
The Le Petit Prince Twilight Constellation Galaxy Round Projector Night Light by Lumitusi takes its inspiration from the book of the same name, Le Petit Prince. When active, this star projector displays massive stars onto ceilings and bedrooms in three different colors: orange, blue and green. In addition, there is also a mode that alternates between all three colors.
Lumitusi has gone to great lengths to make the Le Petit Prince Twilight Constellation Galaxy Round Projector Night Light a product that is 100 percent safe for children. The device is made of high-quality materials so it can survive an accidental drop, the device itself is easy to clean and the battery compartment has a lock on it to ensure that your child doesn’t accidentally access the batteries. Lumitusi also claims that three AAA batteries will provide more than 60 nights of bright, beautiful stars for your young ones to enjoy.
In My Room Star Theater Pro Home Planetarium Light Projector and Night Light
The In My Room Star Theater Pro Home Planetarium is an Optical Star Projection System with an optical quality lense. In addition to displaying stars on any surface, this star projector comes with two discs. One of which gives a view of the sun, earth and moon.
The motorized image rotation can imitate the rotation of a natural night sky, providing the ultimate relaxation experience. The In My Room Star Theater Pro Home Planetarium also comes with a planetarium sound CD.