Neave Planetarium is an online planetarium that allows users to explore the starry night sky; here, they can identify planets, constellations, and more! There are several features that users can choose from to maximize their experience. First, there are filters at the bottom of the screen that helps to customize the user’s view. These filters include constellations, constellation art, atmosphere, landscape, azimuthal grid, equatorial grid, deep sky objects, night mode, and full screen. Personally, I liked having landscape and constellations on because it made it easier to locate stars. Second, you can actually use your location and time to mimic the night sky above your house.

My mom and I went outside and tried to pinpoint some major stars and planets. I pointed out Jupiter, which my mom mistook for the north star. My mom pointed out Ursa Minor, commonly referred to as “Little Dipper.” I also waited till ten o’clock to see Gemini, as that is my zodiac sign. 

The last thing that I did while in the planetarium was search for the stars and constellations that Harry Potter characters were named after. It is fairly common knowledge that members of the Black family were given celestial names such as Bellatrix, Andromeda, Sirius, Draco, and a whole lot more. Well, technically Draco is a Malfoy, but his mom is an heir from the house of Black. Regardless, I was able to go back outside and view a few of the stars and constellations; although, the light pollution from the street lamps made it difficult to see smaller stars. 

This virtual tour was both informative and nostalgic. I felt like I was in one of those blow-up planetariums elementary schools would set up. This was way more helpful because I could run between my front lawn and computer and actually see the stars. It was also nice to have the computer fill in the gaps of constellations and starts I could not see or make out. This virtual tour was awesome and now I want a telescope!