As part of our run-up to producing the play Silent Sky by Lauren Gunderson in the planetarium in November, this Saturday is a celebration of the legacy of Henrietta Leavitt. In addition to being an amazing pioneer in the field of photographic Astronomy, she's also the main character in the play! Physics Professor Don Smith will be preparing a talk about the science Henrietta carried out, the discoveries she made, and how her work is the foundation for just about everything we know about the size and history of the universe!
In addition to the science lecture, three of our students who are performing in the play will give us a sneak preview of a scene! They will be sharing a staged reading of the scene where Henrietta Leavitt arrives at the Harvard Observatory and meets Annie Jump Cannon and Wilhelmina Fleming.
The current weather forecast is for showers, but if we get lucky and it clears up, we'll invite attendees to ascend to the rooftop Cline Observatory to view the stars through some of our telescopes.