It’s Yuri’s Night, the anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s first manned spaceflight in 1961, as well as the anniversary of the first space shuttle launch in 1981.
Over the last few years, April 12th is more and more becoming an international holiday to celebrate our expansion off of this one tiny dust mote in the vast and endless cosmos.
You can celebrate tonight as well:
- Go look at the moon that’s about 50 hours away from a full lunar eclipse
- Go look at Jupiter high overhead and bright, with four moons easily visible in binoculars
- Go look at Mars bright in the east, with multiple rovers and orbiting spacecraft exploring it even as we speak!
There are a growing number of Yuri’s Night parties, celebrations, and star parties all over the world. If you didn’t know about it this year or couldn’t get to one, put it on your calendar right now for next year.
HAPPY YURI’S NIGHT!!
(And you thought that I had forgotten. Shame on you!)
We Love The Stars Too Fondly 