Name: THE PLANETS - Watchface
Rating: 4.1 (7 reviews)
Author: flug32

THE PLANETS is an experimental watchface in the style of THE PLANETS app & widget.

The earliest clocks were an attempt to understand something about the universe: When will the sun rise and set, when will the various seasons come - the times to plant and harvest and hunt and do all the other activities of daily life. When will it be full moon, when I may be able to work or travel outdoors easily at night? And when is new moon, when nighttime will be much darker?  And: When will those wandering lights in the heavens, the planets, appear? Where are they, where and when will they rise, and where and when will they set?

THE PLANETS is a new watchface for Garmin devices that shows all that and more.  It is the ultimate "Clock of the Universe" - and all right on your wrist.

THE PLANETS watchface does several things:

 * It is a 24-hour solar clock that shows the solar noon & midnight, and astronomical twilight, dawn, sunrise, sunset, dusk, and end of astronomical twilight in relation to the current position of the sun.

 * Along with the solar & planet display is a simple time and date, making the watchface usable as an ordinary watch. Additionally it will optionally display battery, weekly & daily activity minutes, daily steps, and/or move bar/MOVE! indicator.

 * Note that the solar clock is oriented to the *solar* day.  The notch at the top is solar  noon, and at the bottom is solar midnight.  Those will vary, sometimes considerably, from clock  noon & midnight.

 * In addition to the solar information, the watchface shows the current position of the visible planets along the path of the ecliptic - the great circle path the the sun takes through the heavens, and which all the visible planets closely follow.  Each planet has distinctive colors and shape, which are easy to learn.  In addition, two letter planet abbreviations will occasionally flash near each planet: Me=Mercury, Ve=Venus, Ma=Mars, Ju=Jupiter, Sa=Saturn, Mo=Moon.

 * The three thin lines, two roughly horizontal and one roughly vertical, that move throughout the day show the current points where the great circle of the ecliptic meet the great circle of the horizon.  All planets above those lines are up in the sky and visible; all planets below the horizon lines are "down" and not visible or in the sky now.

* The third thin line, at right angles to the two horizon lines, shows the highest point of the ecliptic in the sky right now.  This is called the "meridian".

* Finally, the four spikes on the outside of the great circle representing the ecliptic are the four key solar  points of the year: The Spring Equinox, the Summer Solstice, the Fall Equinox, and the Winter Solstice.

The sun will reach each of those points at the time of that event.  So you can watch the sun slowly work its way to, and then past, each Equinox and Solstice in turn.

Look for THE PLANETS app and glance/widget elsewhere on the IQ Store for complementary programs (each has more information than the simple watchface) and further explanations of how the display works.

You can read more about the Ecliptic - what it is and why it is important - here: https://skyandtelescope.org/astronomy-resources/what-is-the-ecliptic/

Astronomical calculations in The Planets are almost all based on algorithms developed and published by Greg Miller of CelestialProgramming.com.