April 2022 Stargazing Guide
Video opens with a swirling galaxy and then Mr. Orbax appears in the center of the screen
-[Orbax]: Greetings junior scientists, scientists and citizens of this great big weird, wild and wonderful world in which we live.
-[Orbax]: As always I am your humble science communicator the Great Orbax coming to you here from the Department of Physics at the University of Guelph
A heading appears that reads “THE GREAT ORBAX SCIENCE COMMUNICATOR, DEPT OF PHYSICS UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH”
-[Orbax]: and I'd like to welcome you to our April stargazing guide.
Text that reads, “APRIL 2022 STAR GAZING GUIDE” appears in large glowing purple letters
-[Orbax]: April showers might lead to May flowers but it also leads to evening cloud coverage.
Orbax is on the left side of the screen speaking, and the background is a video of someone in blue rain boots stomping in the puddles while it rains. As he says “May flowers” the background changes to a clip of flowers, and as he says “cloud coverage” the background changes to a video of the sky filled with clouds.
-[Orbax]: Make sure to take advantage of the clear nights this month junior scientists to get out there and do some epic stargazing.
The background changes to a video of the galaxy behind Orbax, then Orbax disappears.
-[Orbax]: This month we've got meteors, a black moon and more of the planets in our solar system seem to be drifting into our field of view so let's take some time to get out there... and look up.
Orbax reappears in the middle of the screen, while the background stays a video of the galaxy, with shooting stars flying across the galaxy behind Orbax. As Orbax says “look up” he points upwards with his finger and he disappears on the screen
-[Orbax]: April showcases two of the constellations in our zodiac, Leo the Lion and Cancer the Crab.
Orbax reappears, as he says “Leo the Lion” an image of the constellation appears on the left side of the screen and as he says “Cancer the Crab” an image of the crab constellation appears on the right side of the screen
-[Orbax]: Both of these constellations were part of the original 48 constellations listed by the Egyptian mathematician Ptolemy in the second century.
A black and white image of a man and women looking at the sky appears to the right of Orbax.
-[Orbax]: Leo can be easily seen just after sunset into the late evening in the southeast. You can see him squatting in the sky, just ready to pounce.
The background shows an image of the Leo constellation
-[Orbax]: Now once you've found Leo directly to the right or to the south you'll find Cancer.
The screen pans over to the right and an image of the Cancer constellation is shown
-[Orbax]: Cancer is a tough constellation to spot. Its five primary stars aren't the brightest and frankly it doesn't even really look like a crab, so good luck junior scientists.
The background shows an image of the five stars, with lines connecting them all and an image of a crab overtop
-[Orbax]: I know you can do it!
As Orbax says “I know you can do it!” he points forward and smiles
-[Orbax]: Our spring sky is filled with planets this month. In the mornings you should be able to see Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus.
As Orbax says the names of the four planets, images of them pop up around him.
-[Orbax]: As a matter of fact, on April 20th in the east southeast they will create an almost perfect line across the morning sky just before dawn.
As Orbax says “April 20th” the text “APRIL 20” pops up at the top of the screen. The background is a picture of the Mars, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus beside each other
-[Orbax]: Mercury will also be visible this month in the evenings and is best seen on April 29th when it pokes its face into the star cluster Pleiades. METEORS!
As Orbax says “Mercury” an image of Mercury pops up to the right of him. Orbax disappears the reappears when he yells “MEATEORS”
-[Orbax]: From April 16th to the 25th our night sky plays host to the Lyrid meteor shower.
As Orbax says “April 16th to the 25th” the text “APRIL 16-25” pops up at the bottom of the screen and the background changes to a video of the night sky with shooting stars flying all over the night sky
-[Orbax]: It takes 415.5 years for the comet C/1861 G-1 Thatcher to orbit the sun.
The background is a video of meteors rocks flying towards the screen
-[Orbax]: Discovered 161 years ago in 1861, this comet leaves a trail of dust that the earth passes through this time every year.
The background shows a video of the dust from the comet orbiting around the sun
-[Orbax]: As this dust burns up in the atmosphere it leaves a beautiful streaking light show that we call the Lyrid meteor shower.
The background changes to an image of Lyrids over New Mexico, then an image of Lyrids from the ISS
-[Orbax]: The Lyrids are named because they appear to originate from the Lyra constellation, the harp.
The background shows an image of the Lyra constellation with an image of a harp overtop the constellation
-[Orbax]: Look to the northeast between April 21st and 23rd just before midnight for 15 to 20 meters per hour!
The text “North East” and “APRIL 21-23” appear as Orbax says those words, then green arrows star pointing out from the Lyra constellation
-[Orbax]: The full moon this month occurs on April 16th
Image of a full moon appears and the text “FULL MOON, APIRL 16” also appears
-[Orbax]: it is known as the spreading grass moon, the egg moon and the growing moon.
As Orbax says “grass moon” the text “GRASS MOON” pops up, as he says “egg moon” the text “EGG MOON” replaces grass moon and as he saying “growing moon” the text “GROWING MOON” replaces the egg moon text
-[Orbax]: The Ojibwe of the Great Lakes region refer to the April full moon as the maple sap boiling moon,
Images of sap buckets appear in the background
-[Orbax]: while the Cree nation call it the goose moon since the geese return in spring.
The background changes to a video of geese flying
-[Orbax]: The Mi’kmaw moon for April is Penatmuiku’s, the birds laying eggs time moon since the new moon is at the beginning of the month.
The background changes to two bright blue eggs sitting in a nest
-[Orbax]: The Cherokee nation call it the Flower Moon since the plants begin to bloom.
The background changes to a video of blue and purple flowers moving in the wind
-[Orbax]: In fact the Europeans call it the pink moon a reference to the phlox flowers that are the first to bloom in the eastern forest in the springtime and not as a reference to the color of the moon itself.
The background changes to a video of pink flowers swaying in the wind
-[Orbax]: This month we will experience the rare occurrence of two new moons in one month.
As Orbax says “two” the video duplicates Orbax and there is now two of him on the screen talking
-[Orbax]: So what is a new moon? Every 27 days 7 hours and 43 minutes the moon completes one full rotation around the earth.
The background shows a video of the moon rotating around the earth
-[Orbax]: When the moon’s on the opposite side of the earth to the sun, the sun fully illuminates the moon and we call that a full moon.
An image of the sun pops up at the top middle of the screen, and as Orbax says “full moon” the text “FULL MOON” pops up
-[Orbax]: But when the moon lies between the sun and the earth, we don't actually see the reflected light and it appears to be dark. This is called a new moon.
As Orbax says “new moon” the text “NEW MOON” pops up
-[Orbax]: You've likely heard of the term blue moon before. A blue moon isn't actually one moon, it's two moons! Two full moons occurring in one month!
Again, Orbax is split into two of himself and now two Orbax’s are talking
-[Orbax]: On April 1st and April 30th we have a new moon.
As Orbax says “April 1st” the text “APIRL 1” pops up and as he says “April 30th” the text “APRIL 30” pops up
-[Orbax]: Two new moons in one month are called a black moon.
As Orbax says “black moon” he disappears and the whole screen is black
-[Orbax]: Now that the snow's all melted and we’re fully into spring it's so exciting to see all the changes that are happening on the earth. The flowers, the trees, the growth of the animals... so many things are changing. But don't forget that things don't just change down here, things are also changing when you look up.
The background is a blue sky with millions of stars, as Orbax says look up, he points up and looks up and shrinks until he disappears
-[Orbax]: Thanks for listening junior scientists and don’t forget to have a science-tastic day
Orbax gives and thumbs up and wink and disappears
-[Orbax]: Special thanks to Royal City Science's own planetary geochemist Dr. Glynis Perrett for her help preparing our Star Gazing Guide.
Image of a women smiling appears with the caption “Dr. Glynis Perrett, Planetary Geochemist” pops up on the bottom right of the screen
-[Orbax]: We'd also like to thank the SkyView app and the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
The words “SkyView Explore the Universe” pop up in the middle of the screen and then the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada’s logo