Sega Homestar Original Black - Home Planetarium - Star Projector

I would love to have a custom-designed starry-sky bedroom ceiling, but just don't have the tens of thousands of dollars to have one put in right this minute... So I got this product, and could not be happier. This is a fantastic little device for a child's or adult bedroom.I wouldn't really call this an educational device. Yeah, you can sit under it and point out constellations and such, but it's much more of a relaxation/decoration item. That is its sole use in my home.Do not be influenced by the "Sega" product name; this is not some flimsy, toy-like star projector. Although small, this is a sophisticated (and expensive) device. As such, small children probably should not be allowed to operate it. Older kids, after sufficient supervised training, can understand the controls and functions, and should be able to use it properly.It is not very big, so takes up little space. The power cord is relatively long (could be a foot or two longer) to support your optimal placement in the room. It has a small fan for cooling as well as the rotation motor, and both are very quiet, supporting this as a go-to-sleep device. There is a sleep timer which you can set for 15, 30, or 60 minutes. The rotation option is very nice as it presents an ever-changing view of the star field. It rotates quickly enough that you can discern the rotation readily, but not so fast that you get the spins from staring up into it.As noted by a couple other reviewers, on first use it seems that the device is not focusing properly, and it appears that the focus ring is literally unscrewing from the housing. Not quite so. Be patient and slowly bring that focus ring out and the stars will come into perfect focus.This item is best used in a very dark room, so douse all lights and night lights. If being used in a child's room, the light from this device, if left on all night, serves as a night light on its own. That being said, the light is not harsh, and provides a nice soft glow throughout the room.The shooting star function is a nice little addition, but is kind of a letdown. The product photo appearing to show a shooting star looks a lot more like a comet, but either way, know that this is NOT how shooting star function appears. It's a purely optical effect using the lens, so the shooting star is always the same; it is in the exact same position on the ceiling every time, and its path and appearance are always the same.I recommend purchasing the optional discs as well, as they are a nice change-up to your standard view.Bottom line: I wanted a detailed and diverse starry sky on my bedroom ceiling, and this device has delivered well beyond my expectations.

The other positive reviews played a big part in my purchase. Very disappointed in the product and the other reviewers. This thing shows fake looking stars grouped into a fake looking pattern that doesn’t look like any night sky I’ve ever seen. One review stated that holes poked into cardboard could provide similar looking stars and I agree. As far as the “shooting star” function goes; when I saw it the first time it pretty much finalized my decision to get my money back. The shooting star is just this little square shaped electronic door which opens that briefly shines over the stars… other lights within the unit shine through the walls of the compartment at the same time so it’s about the same effect as turning on a cheap flashlight and calling that a shooting star. Another thing which the Q&A as well as the reviewers did NOT do justice to, was placement. Unless you have extra high 10 foot ceilings and can place this thing in the dead center of the room the projection is not going to come out looking anywhere near right. There’s a wheel you can turn to focus but any little movement sets the whole thing off and you have to redo it. Plan on spending a few minutes in the dark turning the wheel trying to put the stars into focus and then just NOT touching it again, etc. This thing is worth about $30.00 at the most as a gag, but DEFINITELY not $175.00! Lastly, the advertisement here on Amazon compared to reality of the product makes the product seem MUCH more spectacular and sophisticated than it actually is, and the company itself is disorganized and don’t seem prepared or equipped to be doing business on Amazon.com. Their tracking numbers were wrong, they didn’t know how to do a return, their advertisement was inaccurate.

I've been interested in astronomy for a long long time. I have owned about 30 telescopes, but currently a 10" and 16" dobsonian, and an SN6 . I've always wanted a decent little cheap planetarium. In the past I painted glow in the dark dots on the ceiling, different sizes for magnitude differences, using a huge paper template to get the star positions correct. It works fine but it's a lot of work, and the sky doesn't change.Then I saw this Homestar, and did some comparisons between this version and the new version. In every review I felt the new version was TOO bright. It does not accurately represent what a night sky looks like. For this reason I purchased the original version. The original version is also a bit too bright, but acceptable. Another reviewer mentioned that the stars do not revolve around the pole star (Polaris) but that is wrong. The sky does indeed rotate around polaris. This is neat because on my ceiling polaris is (correctly) in the same place all the time, just off to the edge of the ceiling. This means that the sky completely changes over the course of 30 minutes or so.I still feel this device is extremely overpriced for what it is, but I suppose that has to do with the limited demand, and cost of manufacturing the laser disks.The shooting star effect is pretty good even though it's always in the same place. It's spaced out timing wise, and the sky has rotated a bit by then so it does not get repetetive.Overall I am really happy with this. My wife lost her mom about a week ago due to covid. I was going out to a friend's house for awhile and knew she would go to bed early.I had just received the homestar and secretly set it up for her but left the room lights on so she couldn't notice. When she turned off the lights to go to bed she was rewarded with a star lit sky. I received a text which only said "thank you <3"In the morning she told me she was so delighted that it made her cry.Now we run it every night when we go to bed.BTW, even if you do not set the timer, it turns itself off after a few hours. I'm not sure how long that is yet because I'm usually asleep when that happens.BTW the other night I played "space music" really faint to add to the theme. I had already fallen asleep when my wife came to bed. She woke me up and said she keeps hearing UFOs taking off outside. Apparently she had been looking out the window for awhile before waking me.That was pretty funny! I just love her