Lore of the Constellations: Virgo the Maiden

In part 2 of this special video series, Jay Lamm, Planetarium Producer and Technical Manager at the Irene W. Pennington Planetarium in the Louisiana Art & Science Museum, will take you on a historical dive into how Virgo the Maiden got her name.

The Sky Tonight Update: Lyrids Meteor Shower

The Lyrids is an average shower, usually producing about 20 meteors per hour at its peak. It is produced by dust particles left behind by comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, which was discovered in 1861. The shower runs annually from April 16-25. It peaks this year on the night of the night of the 22nd and morning of the 23rd.

Lore of the Constellations: Leo

In this special video series, Jay Lamm, Planetarium Producer and Technical Manager at the Irene W. Pennington Planetarium in the Louisiana Art & Science Museum, will take you on a historical stroll through how some of the most notable Spring constellations got their names.  After all, have you ever wondered what “Boötes” meant or why we honor “Virgo” with a special group of stars?  There will be four videos for four notable constellations.  The first involves the easy to find Leo, the Lion. 

The Sky Tonight Update: Full Moon, Supermoon

The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be will be fully illuminated. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Full Pink Moon because it marked the appearance of the moss pink, or wild ground phlox, which is one of the first spring flowers.

This moon has also been known as the Sprouting Grass Moon, the Growing Moon, and the Egg Moon. Many coastal tribes called it the Full Fish Moon because this was the time that the shad swam upstream to spawn.

This is also the third of four supermoons for 2020. The Moon will be at its closest approach to the Earth and may look slightly larger and brighter than usual.

 

Jupiter’s Awesome New Image

The Juno spacecraft is a space probe orbiting Jupiter and it’s been sending back some amazing pictures of the gas giant.  Launched on August 5, 2011, Juno only arrived at Jupiter as of 2016 and its been in orbit ever since.  It dives between the planet and its intense belts of charged particle radiation, coming about 3000  miles from the cloud tops at its closest approach.

The First Exoplanet Discovered: A Zombie World

Today we know of over 4000 exoplanets, or extrasolar planets:  worlds orbiting around stars not our sun.  But in 1992, possibly the first exoplanet ever discovered came in the form that scientists did not expect.  It was a pulsar planet, or a zombie planet, formed from the matter and debris in the aftermath of an exploding star.