this book is a planetarium

Planetarium books are available in paperback and hardcover formats.

They cover a broad range of space topics, including constellations and their stories, the planets and the solar system, the Milky Way, and the wider universe.

Some titles add multiple paper-engineered tools and functions, such as a small musical instrument with strings to strum, a geometric drawing generator, an infinite calendar, a message decoder, and a speaker that amplifies sound.

Dimensions and weight vary from very small to large formats: heights span about 3.8–14.6 inches, widths about 2.9–10.7 inches, depths about 0.2–2.0 inches, and weights range roughly 0.22–2.75 pounds.

Many titles include hands-on features for finding or projecting stars: built-in star-finder wheels or cover star-finders, pop-up star maps that can project constellations onto walls or ceilings, small star projectors with constellation disks, and a few pop-up books that transform into working projection devices.

These books appear in juvenile fiction and juvenile nonfiction and in subject categories such as space/science, technology/concepts, and craft/papercraft — covering themes like social topics, space science, technology, and papercrafts.