Virtual Event - Constellations: Science and Stories in the Sky

Summer is the finest part of the year for stargazing because it offers warm nights and the beauty of the Milky Way running straight overhead. The constellations we see have been passed down to us across generations with patterns that reflect different stories from around the world.

On July 28th, the American Museum of Natural History’s own Carter Emmart will show you how to identify the constellations and introduce you to a few of these stories while exploring some of the science behind the familiar patterns in the sky.

Ask an Astronomer

During the live webcast, library patrons will be able to interact with American Museum of Natural History scientist, Dr. Jackie Faherty, by asking questions (using the chat feature) that relate to constellations. 

View webcast at: https://youtu.be/0RQsRN7-B4I

The Presenters

Carter Emmart (Director of Astrovisualization)

Carter Emmart grew up in an artistic family attending classes at the Hayden Planetarium in New York City and is now Director of Astrovisualization for the American Museum of Natural History. While attending the University of Colorado for a BA in Geophysics, he co-founded the Case for Mars conference series, from which he pursued a career as a space illustrator of human Mars missions. Working at NASA Ames and the National Center for Atmospheric Research led to his work in data visualization design, which he applied to the museum’s Digital Universe 3D Atlas, his direction of the planetarium’s space shows, and the NASA-supported OpenSpace software. Carter was awarded an honorary Ph.D. from Sweden’s Linköping University, a developing partner of OpenSpace. He mentors graduate students from Linköping and high school students from the New York area, as well as teaching annually in Cambodia.

Dr. Jackie Faherty: Senior Scientist and Senior Education Manager, AMNH

Dr. Jackie Faherty received her bachelors degree in Physics from the University of Notre Dame and her PhD in Physics from Stony Brook University. She is now a permanent scientific staff member jointly in the department of Astrophysics and the department of Education at the American Museum of Natural History. Dr. Faherty co-runs a dynamic research group at AMNH entitled Brown Dwarfs in New York City along with leading scientists Dr. Kelle Cruz of CUNY Hunter College and Dr. Emily Rice of CUNY Macaulay Honors College. She has also co-founded the popular citizen science project entitled Backyard Worlds: Planet 9 which invites the general public to help scan the solar neighborhood for previously missed cold worlds.

This live OpenSpace webcast is brought to you by the STAR Library Network’s NASA@ My Library program in partnership with the Lunar and Planetary Institute, the American Library Association, and the American Museum of Natural History.