Plateau Astro

It's possible kids will be able to look up at the Moon on their way to school while humans are flying around it.

What will the Moon look like from Earth when the Artemis II astronauts are flying by the Moon? I simulated it in a few places around Montréal...

The earliest possible launch date is February 5th, 2026. The astronauts would arrive at the Moon around February 10th, which I've simulated here.

This morning’s Moonset from Rosemont in Montréal

The Moon rises in the East tonight in Montréal at 6:03 PM

It’ll look large and orange when it first rises when low on the horizon

Sputnik launched on October 4, 1957. The first steps on the Moon were July 20, 1969.

Less than a 12 year gap.

That's the amount of time between the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 17.

The Moon and Saturn over Montréal tonight

(and up close in my telescope)

You’ll see a point of light underneath the Moon tonight

That’s Saturn

Just saw some rainbow-coloured, iridescent clouds over Montréal

Mission: accomplished.

The last mission to the Moon was December, 1972. Nobody under the age of 53 has ever looked up at the Moon while humans traveled around it.

That's about 75% of people alive today. 6 billion people.

In just a few months, the Artemis II mission is going to change that.

The last time humans went to the Moon was December 1972

All astronauts on the upcoming Artemis II mission were born after, and never saw humans on the Moon live

🧑‍🚀 Reid Wiseman: November 11, 1975
🧑‍🚀 Jeremy Hansen: January 27, 1976
👨🏾‍🚀 Victor Glover: April 30, 1976
🧑‍🚀 Christina Koch: January 29, 1979

Had a lovely turnout of people come to see the Moon, Saturn, and the ISS flyover at Pelican Park in Montréal

Perfect skies tonight

Awww, dang. See my error now!

*in the Moon*

Very good, Trevor

Montreal: the Space Station will fly over the city tonight, appearing like a bright star moving across the sky

START: 8:07 PM, West
END: 8:12 PM, Southeast

At 8:10 PM, it’ll appear to fly above the Moon in the Moon. Easily viewable, no telescope required!

Montreal: tonight I’ll be setting up my telescope at Pelican Park in Rosemont to show the Moon, Saturn, and Space Station flyover

🗓️ Sun, Sep 28
⏰ 7:00 - 9:00 PM
🚀 8:07 - 8:11 PM: Space Station flyover

😊 Free! All ages!
📍Map: maps.app.goo.gl/cPjDL7mMWnrQ...

Tonight’s Crescent Moon over Montréal

If Artemis II launches in early February, that means we're only 5 Full Moons away

There's only ~30 satellites needed to make GPS work around the world. I wanted to show this to students, and I'm super pumped how this turned out!

Working with @gaiasky.bsky.social, we grab the orbital data of each satellite and show them circling around Earth

They look like electrons in an atom

5 Cool Things I Learned from the Artemis II Crew Press Conference Some neat tidbits about the Moon mission learned from the crew press conference on September 24

This morning I attended the Artemis II crew press conference streamed from the CSA headquarters.

I learned a bunch of new, cool things about the mission. I whittled my long list down and wrote about 5 of them.

plateauastro.com/blog/2025-09...

Went to a press conference at the Canadian Space Agency this morning about the Artemis II mission

The 4 astronauts were down in Houston answering questions

Took a ton of notes and learned some super cool things about the mission. I’ll write a post summarizing the things I thought were super neat.

Here's how Artemis 2 will fly around the moon and back As one NASA speaker put it in a press conference today, Artemis 2 is part of a long series of tests to eventually put humans on the moon.

NASA held a press conference yesterday about the upcoming Artemis II mission

One of the announcements was launch dates. It looks like Feb 5, 2026 is when the launch window opens. That’s coming soon!

Highly recommend reading this from Elizabeth Howell with more details:

spaceq.ca/heres-how-ar...

But Montréal has a weird quirk!

It's almost exactly halfway between the Equator and the North Pole. On the Equinoxes, the shadow will appear the same length as the stick!

This experiment can also be used to measure the size of the Earth (called the "Eratosthenes Experiment")

I measured the shadow at Solar Noon. This is not 12:00 PM noon on your watch, but rather the moment the Sun is exactly south and is at its highest point in the sky that day.

In summer, the Sun is high and the shadows are short

In winter, the Sun is low and shadows are long

Today is the Autumn Equinox!

Over the last year, I measured the shadow of a stick on every equinox and solstice to show how the height of the Sun changes through the year...

@gaiasky.bsky.social Thank you for this morning’s commit

I’ve been meaning to make an issue for this exact feature. In my shows, I pretend we are launching off into space and this makes it so much better

Ditto for an upcoming show about Artemis where we land on the Moon

Montréal: Oct 4th, I'm doing a 1-hour planetarium show about Artemis II, the mission to the Moon happening in 2026

It's been 53 years since humans have gone to the Moon. This is a big moment, and I want you ready for it.

🎟️$20
👧Ages 10+
📍White Wall Studio (Plateau)

plateauastro.com/events/2025-...

Got up early to drive to Québec City and give 5 planetarium presentations at a school. En français !

91 kids got to see all the stars and constellations in the sky. Then we lifted off from Earth to visit the planets, leave our solar system, and our own galaxy. Kids loved it!

YouTube video by Plateau Astro Artemis II and Jeremy Hansen: Canada’s Moon Mission

And here’s the video:

youtu.be/5UgTrgDaCMg?...

YouTube video by Plateau Astro Artemis II and Jeremy Hansen: Canada’s Moon Mission

Here it is!

My video with everything you need to know about the upcoming Moon mission, Artemis II, and it’s Canadian astronaut, Jeremy Hansen

Teachers of Canada: if you’re looking for an easy overview of this early 2026 mission, this 10-minute video is a good place to start

Finally!

Finished editing my Artemis II + Jeremy Hansen video. Uploading now.